New Living Translation | New International Version |
1Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job: | 1Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: |
2“How long will you go on like this? You sound like a blustering wind. | 2"How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind. |
3Does God twist justice? Does the Almighty twist what is right? | 3Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? |
4Your children must have sinned against him, so their punishment was well deserved. | 4When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin. |
5But if you pray to God and seek the favor of the Almighty, | 5But if you will seek God earnestly and plead with the Almighty, |
6and if you are pure and live with integrity, he will surely rise up and restore your happy home. | 6if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your prosperous state. |
7And though you started with little, you will end with much. | 7Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be. |
8“Just ask the previous generation. Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors. | 8"Ask the former generation and find out what their ancestors learned, |
9For we were born but yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow. | 9for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow. |
10But those who came before us will teach you. They will teach you the wisdom of old. | 10Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding? |
11“Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh? Can marsh grass flourish without water? | 11Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water? |
12While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither more quickly than grass. | 12While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass. |
13The same happens to all who forget God. The hopes of the godless evaporate. | 13Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless. |
14Their confidence hangs by a thread. They are leaning on a spider’s web. | 14What they trust in is fragile; what they rely on is a spider's web. |
15They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last. They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure. | 15They lean on the web, but it gives way; they cling to it, but it does not hold. |
16The godless seem like a lush plant growing in the sunshine, its branches spreading across the garden. | 16They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden; |
17Its roots grow down through a pile of stones; it takes hold on a bed of rocks. | 17it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones. |
18But when it is uprooted, it’s as though it never existed! | 18But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.' |
19That’s the end of its life, and others spring up from the earth to replace it. | 19Surely its life withers away, and from the soil other plants grow. |
20“But look, God will not reject a person of integrity, nor will he lend a hand to the wicked. | 20"Surely God does not reject one who is blameless or strengthen the hands of evildoers. |
21He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. | 21He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. |
22Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the home of the wicked will be destroyed.” | 22Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more." |
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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