New International Version NIV
American Standard Version ASV
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
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Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 “How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind.
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How long wilt thou speak these things? And [how long] shall the words of thy mouth be [like] a mighty wind?
3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
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Doth God pervert justice? Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness?
4 When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
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If thy children have sinned against him, And he hath delivered them into the hand of their transgression;
5 But if you will seek God earnestly and plead with the Almighty,
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If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God, And make thy supplication to the Almighty;
6 if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your prosperous state.
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If thou wert pure and upright: Surely now he would awake for thee, And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
7 Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.
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And though thy beginning was small, Yet thy latter end would greatly increase.
8 “Ask the former generation and find out what their ancestors learned,
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For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out:
9 for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.
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(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days upon earth are a shadow);
10 Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
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Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, And utter words out of their heart?
11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water?
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Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water?
12 While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass.
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Whilst it is yet in its greenness, [and] not cut down, It withereth before any [other] herb.
13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.
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So are the paths of all that forget God; And the hope of the godless man shall perish:
14 What they trust in is fragile ; what they rely on is a spider’s web.
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Whose confidence shall break in sunder, And whose trust is a spider's web.
15 They lean on the web, but it gives way; they cling to it, but it does not hold.
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He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.
16 They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden;
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He is green before the sun, And his shoots go forth over his garden.
17 it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones.
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His roots are wrapped about the [stone] -heap, He beholdeth the place of stones.
18 But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’
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If he be destroyed from his place, Then it shall deny him, [saying], I have not seen thee.
19 Surely its life withers away, and from the soil other plants grow.
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Behold, this is the joy of his way; And out of the earth shall others spring.
20 “Surely God does not reject one who is blameless or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
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Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he uphold the evil-doers.
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
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He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting.
22 Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more.”
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They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; And the tent of the wicked shall be no more.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.