Job 8

Bildad

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

² “How long will you say such things?
Your words are a blustering wind.

³ Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

⁴ When your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

⁵ But if you will look to God
and plead with the Almighty,

⁶ if you are pure and upright,
even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
and restore you to your rightful place.

⁷ Your beginnings will seem humble,
so prosperous will your future be.

⁸ “Ask the former generations
and find out what their fathers learned,

⁹ for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,
and our days on earth are but a shadow.

¹⁰ Will they not instruct you and tell you?
Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?

¹¹ Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Can reeds thrive without water?

¹² While still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than grass.

¹³ Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
so perishes the hope of the godless.

¹⁴ What he trusts in is fragile ^[a] ;
what he relies on is a spider’s web.

¹⁵ He leans on his web, but it gives way;
he clings to it, but it does not hold.

¹⁶ He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots over the garden;

¹⁷ it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
and looks for a place among the stones.

¹⁸ But when it is torn from its spot,
that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’

¹⁹ Surely its life withers away,
and ^[b]from the soil other plants grow.

²⁰ “Surely God does not reject a blameless man
or strengthen the hands of evildoers.

²¹ He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.

²² Your enemies will be clothed in shame,
and the tents of the wicked will be no more.”

Job 9

Job

¹Then Job replied:

² “Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can a mortal be righteous before God?

³ Though one wished to dispute with him,
he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.

⁴ His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?

⁵ He moves mountains without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.

⁶ He shakes the earth from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.

⁷ He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
he seals off the light of the stars.

⁸ He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.

⁹ He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

¹⁰ He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.

¹¹ When he passes me, I cannot see him;
when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

¹² If he snatches away, who can stop him?
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

¹³ God does not restrain his anger;
even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.

¹⁴ “How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?

¹⁵ Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.

¹⁶ Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

¹⁷ He would crush me with a storm
and multiply my wounds for no reason.

¹⁸ He would not let me regain my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.

¹⁹ If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!
And if it is a matter of justice, who will summon him ^[c]?

²⁰ Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

²¹ “Although I am blameless,
I have no concern for myself;
I despise my own life.

²² It is all the same; that is why I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

²³ When a scourge brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.

²⁴ When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,
he blindfolds its judges.
If it is not he, then who is it?