The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 Bildad from Shuhah was next to speak:
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Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job:
2 "How can you keep on talking like this? You're talking nonsense, and noisy nonsense at that.
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“How long will you go on like this? You sound like a blustering wind.
3 Does God mess up? Does God Almighty ever get things backwards?
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Does God twist justice? Does the Almighty twist what is right?
4 It's plain that your children sinned against him - otherwise, why would God have punished them?
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Your children must have sinned against him, so their punishment was well deserved.
5 Here's what you must do - and don't put it off any longer: Get down on your knees before God Almighty.
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But if you pray to God and seek the favor of the Almighty,
6 If you're as innocent and upright as you say, it's not too late - he'll come running; he'll set everything right again, reestablish your fortunes.
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and if you are pure and live with integrity, he will surely rise up and restore your happy home.
7 Even though you're not much right now, you'll end up better than ever. To Hang Your Life from One Thin Thread
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And though you started with little, you will end with much.
8 "Put the question to our ancestors, study what they learned from their ancestors.
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“Just ask the previous generation. Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors.
9 For we're newcomers at this, with a lot to learn, and not too long to learn it.
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For we were born but yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow.
10 So why not let the ancients teach you, tell you what's what, instruct you in what they knew from experience?
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But those who came before us will teach you. They will teach you the wisdom of old.
11 Can mighty pine trees grow tall without soil? Can luscious tomatoes flourish without water?
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“Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh? Can marsh grass flourish without water?
12 Blossoming flowers look great before they're cut or picked, but without soil or water they wither more quickly than grass.
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While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither more quickly than grass.
13 That's what happens to all who forget God - all their hopes come to nothing.
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The same happens to all who forget God. The hopes of the godless evaporate.
14 They hang their life from one thin thread, they hitch their fate to a spider web.
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Their confidence hangs by a thread. They are leaning on a spider’s web.
15 One jiggle and the thread breaks, one jab and the web collapses.
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They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last. They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure.
16 Or they're like weeds springing up in the sunshine, invading the garden,
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The godless seem like a lush plant growing in the sunshine, its branches spreading across the garden.
17 Spreading everywhere, overtaking the flowers, getting a foothold even in the rocks.
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Its roots grow down through a pile of stones; it takes hold on a bed of rocks.
18 But when the gardener rips them out by the roots, the garden doesn't miss them one bit.
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But when it is uprooted, it’s as though it never existed!
19 The sooner the godless are gone, the better; then good plants can grow in their place.
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That’s the end of its life, and others spring up from the earth to replace it.
20 "There's no way that God will reject a good person, and there is no way he'll help a bad one.
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“But look, God will not reject a person of integrity, nor will he lend a hand to the wicked.
21 God will let you laugh again; you'll raise the roof with shouts of joy,
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He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
22 With your enemies thoroughly discredited, their house of cards collapsed."
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Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the home of the wicked will be destroyed.”
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.