Ayub (Job) — 8

Bildad’s First Response to Ayub

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Ayub:

2 “How long will you go on like this? You sound like a blustering wind.

3 Does 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH twist justice? Does the AL'Mighty twist what is right?

4 Your children must have sinned against him, so their punishment was well deserved.

5 But if you pray to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH and seek the favor of the AL'Mighty,

6 and if you are pure and live with integrity, He will surely rise up and restore your happy home.

7 And though you started with little, you will end with much.

8 “Just ask the previous generation. Pay attention to the experience of our fathers.

9 For we were born but yesterday and know nothing. Our days on the Arath are as fleeting as a shadow.

10 But those who came before us will teach you. They will teach you the wisdom of old.

11 “Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh? Can marsh grass flourish without water?

12 While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither more quickly than grass.

13 The same happens to all who forget his 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH. The hopes of the unrighteous evaporate.

14 Their confidence hangs by a thread. They are leaning on a spider’s web.

15 They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last. They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure.

16 The unrighteous seem like a lush plant growing in the sunshine, its branches spreading across the garden.

17 Its roots grow down through a pile of stones; it takes hold on a bed of rocks.

18 But when it is uprooted, it’s as though it never existed!

19 That’s the end of its life, and others spring up from the Arath to replace it.

20 “But look, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH will not reject a person of integrity, nor will He lend a hand to the wicked.

21 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the home of the wicked will be destroyed.”