| Revised Standard Version (RSV) |
New International Version (NIV) |
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1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
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1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
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2 "How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
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2 "How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind.
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3 Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
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3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
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4 If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the power of their transgression.
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4 When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
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5 If you will seek God and make supplication to the Almighty,
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5 But if you will look to God and plead with the Almighty,
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6 if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and reward you with a rightful habitation.
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6 if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place.
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7 And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great.
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7 Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.
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8 "For inquire, I pray you, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have found;
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8 "Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned,
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9 for we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow.
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9 for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.
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10 Will they not teach you, and tell you, and utter words out of their understanding?
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10 Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
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11 "Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
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11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water?
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12 While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant.
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12 While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass.
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13 Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless man shall perish.
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13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.
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14 His confidence breaks in sunder, and his trust is a spider's web.
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14 What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider's web.
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15 He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
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15 He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.
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16 He thrives before the sun, and his shoots spread over his garden.
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16 He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden;
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17 His roots twine about the stoneheap; he lives among the rocks.
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17 it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones.
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18 If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never seen you.'
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18 But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.'
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19 Behold, this is the joy of his way; and out of the earth others will spring.
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19 Surely its life withers away, and from the soil other plants grow.
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20 "Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers.
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20 "Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
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21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting.
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21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
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22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more."
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22 Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more."
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| Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Revised Standard Version - Holy Bible) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
