1Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, and said,

2How long wilt thou speak these things,
How long shall the breath of thy mouth be abundant in words?

3Will the Lord be unjust when he judges;
Or will he that has made all things pervert justice?

4If thy sons have sinned before him,
He has cast them away because of their transgression.

5But be thou early in prayer to the Lord Almighty.

6If thou art pure and true, he will hearken to thy supplication,
And will restore to thee the habitation of righteousness.

7Though then thy beginning should be small,
Yet thy end should be unspeakably great.

8For ask of the former generation,
And search diligently among the race of our fathers

9(For we are of yesterday, and know nothing;
For our life upon the earth is a shadow):

10Shall not these teach thee, and report to thee,
And bring out words from their heart?

11Does the rush flourish without water,
Or shall the flag grow up without moisture?

12When it is yet on the root, and though it has not been cut down,
Does not any herb wither before it has received moisture?

13Thus then shall be the end of all that forget the Lord:
For the hope of the ungodly shall perish.

14For his house shall be without inhabitants,
And his tent shall prove a spider’s web.

15If he should prop up his house, it shall not stand:
And when he has taken hold of it, it shall not remain.

16For it is moist under the sun,
And his branch shall come forth out of his dungheap.

17He lies down upon a gathering of stones,
And shall live in the midst of flints.

18If God should destroy him, his place shall deny him.
Hast thou not seen such things,

19That such is the overthrow of the ungodly?
And out of the earth another shall grow.

20For the Lord will by no means reject the harmless man;
But he will not receive any gift of the ungodly.

21But he will fill with laughter the mouth of the sincere,
And their lips with thanksgiving.

22But their adversaries shall clothe themselves with shame;
And the habitation of the ungodly shall perish.