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Bildad Claims God Rewards the Good

¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

² "How long will you say these things,
And the ^(C1)words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

³ "Does ^(C1)God pervert justice?
Or does ^(F1)the Almighty pervert what is right?

⁴ "^(C1)If your sons sinned against Him,
Then He sent them into the ^(F1)power of their transgression.

⁵ "If you would ^(C1)seek God earnestly
And plead for the grace of ^(F1)the Almighty,

⁶ If you are pure and upright,
Indeed now ^(C1)He would rouse Himself for you
And make your righteous ^(C2)abode at peace.

⁷ "Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your ^(C1)end will increase greatly.

⁸ "Please ^(C1)ask of past generations,
And establish the things searched out by their fathers.

⁹ "For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,
Because ^(C1)our days on earth are but a shadow.

¹⁰ "Will they not instruct you and tell you,
And bring forth words from their hearts?

¹¹ "Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
Can the rushes grow without water?

¹² "While it is still green and not cut down,
Yet it dries up before any other ^(F1)plant.

¹³ "So are the paths of ^(C1)all who forget God;
And the ^(C2)hope of the godless will perish,

¹⁴ Whose confidence is fragile,
And whose trust a ^(C1)spider's ^(F1)web.

¹⁵ "He relies on his ^(C1)house, but it does not stand;
He holds fast to it, but it is not established.

¹⁶ "He ^(F1)(C1)thrives before the sun,
And his ^(C2)shoots go forth over his garden.

¹⁷ "His roots wrap around a rock pile;
He looks upon a house of stones.

¹⁸ "If He swallows him up from ^(C1)his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, '^(C2)I never saw you.'

¹⁹ "Behold, ^(C1)this is the joy of ^(F1)His way;
And out of the dust others will spring.

²⁰ "Behold, ^(C1)God will not reject a blameless man,
Nor ^(C2)will He strengthen the hand of the evildoers.

²¹ "He will yet fill ^(C1)your mouth with laughter
And your lips with shouting.

²² "Those who hate you will be ^(C1)clothed with shame,
And the ^(C2)tent of the wicked will be no longer."