Job 8

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Bildad the Shuhite spoke out and said:	1 But Baldad the Suhite, responding, said:
2 How long will you utter such things? The words from your mouth are like a mighty wind!	2 How long will you speak this way, so that the words of your mouth are like a changeable wind?
3 Does God pervert judgment, and does the Almighty distort justice?	3 Does God supplant judgment, or does the Almighty subvert that which is just?
4 If your children have sinned against him and he has left them in the grip of their guilt,	4 And if now your children have sinned against him, and he has dismissed them into the power of their iniquity,
5 Still, if you yourself have recourse to God and make supplication to the Almighty,	5 even so, you should arise early to God, so as to beseech the Almighty.
6 Should you be blameless and upright, surely now he will awake for you and restore your rightful domain;	6 If you approach with purity and honesty, he will quickly be attentive to you, and a peaceful life will repay your righteousness,
7 Your former state will be of little moment, for in time to come you will flourish indeed.	7 so much so that, if your former things were small, your latter things would be multiplied greatly.
8 If you inquire of the former generations, and give heed to the experience of the fathers	8 For inquire of the earliest generation, and investigate diligently the history of the fathers,
9 (As we are but of yesterday and have no knowledge, because our days on earth are but a shadow),	9 (of course, we are but of yesterday and are ignorant that our days on earth are like a shadow,)
10 Will they not teach you and tell you and utter their words of understanding?	10 and they will teach you; they will speak with you and will offer you the eloquence of their hearts.
11 Can the papyrus grow up without mire? Can the reed grass flourish without water?	11 Can the marsh plant live without moisture? Or can sedges grow without water?
12 While it is yet green and uncut, it withers quicker than any grass.	12 When it is still in flower, and has not been pulled up by hand, it withers before all other plants.
13 So is the end of everyone who forgets God, and so shall the hope of the godless man perish.	13 Just so are the ways of all who forget God, and the hope of the hypocrite will perish.
14 His confidence is but a gossamer thread and his trust is a spider's web.	14 His frenzy will not please him, and his faith will be like a spider’s web.
15 He shall rely upon his family, but it shall not last; he shall cling to it, but it shall not endure.	15 He will lean on his house, and it will not stand; he will prop it up, but it will not rise.
16 He is full of sap before sunrise, and beyond his garden his shoots go forth;	16 He seems to have moisture before the sun arrives; and at sunrise, his sprout shoots forth.
17 About a heap of stones are his roots entwined; among the rocks he takes hold.	17 His roots will crowd together over a heap of stones, and among the stones he will remain.
18 Yet if one tears him from his place, it will disown him: "I have never seen you!"	18 If someone is devoured right beside him, he will deny him and will say: “I do not know you.”
19 There he lies rotting beside the road, and out of the soil another sprouts.	19 For this is the benefit of his way, that others in turn may spring up from the earth.
20 Behold, God will not cast away the upright; neither will he take the hand of the wicked.	20 God will not discard the simple, nor will he extend his hand to the spiteful,
21 Once more will he fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with rejoicing.	21 even until your mouth is filled with laughter and your lips with rejoicing.
22 They that hate you shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked shall be no more.	22 Those who hate you, will be clothed with confusion, and the tabernacle of the impious will not continue.