| 1 | And Bildad the Shuhite answereth and saith: -- |
| 2 | Till when dost thou speak these things? And a strong wind— sayings of thy mouth? |
| 3 | Doth God pervert judgment? And doth the Mighty One pervert justice? |
| 4 | If thy sons have sinned before Him, And He doth send them away, By the hand of their transgression, |
| 5 | If thou dost seek early unto God, And unto the Mighty makest supplication, |
| 6 | If pure and upright thou [art], Surely now He waketh for thee, And hath completed The habitation of thy righteousness. |
| 7 | And thy beginning hath been small, And thy latter end is very great. |
| 8 | For, ask I pray thee of a former generation, And prepare to a search of their fathers, |
| 9 | (For of yesterday we [are], and we know not, For a shadow [are] our days on earth.) |
| 10 | Do they not shew thee—speak to thee, And from their heart bring forth words? |
| 11 | 'Doth a rush wise without mire? A reed increase without water? |
| 12 | While it [is] in its budding—uncropt, Even before any herb it withereth. |
| 13 | So [are] the paths of all forgetting God, And the hope of the profane doth perish, |
| 14 | Whose confidence is loathsome, And the house of a spider his trust. |
| 15 | He leaneth on his house—and it standeth not: He taketh hold on it—and it abideth not. |
| 16 | Green he [is] before the sun, And over his garden his branch goeth out. |
| 17 | By a heap his roots are wrapped, A house of stones he looketh for. |
| 18 | If [one] doth destroy him from his place, Then it hath feigned concerning him, I have not seen thee! |
| 19 | Lo, this [is] the joy of his way, And from the dust others spring up.' |
| 20 | Lo, God doth not reject the perfect, Nor taketh hold on the hand of evil doers. |
| 21 | While he filleth with laughter thy mouth, And thy lips with shouting, |
| 22 | Those hating thee do put on shame, And the tent of the wicked is not! |