1Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said:

2How long wilt thou speak such things? How long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?

3Will God pervert judgment? Or will the Almighty pervert justice?

4As thy children sinned against him, He hath given them up to their transgression.

5But if thou wilt seek early to God, And make thy supplication to the Almighty,—

6If thou wilt be pure and upright, Surely he will yet arise for thee, And prosper thy righteous habitation;

7So that thy beginning shall be small, And thy latter end very great.

8For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, And mark what hath been searched out by their fathers;

9(For we are of yesterday and know nothing, Since our days upon the earth are but a shadow;)

10Will not they instruct thee, and tell thee, And utter words from their understanding?

11“Can the paper-reed grow up without mire? Can the bulrush grow without water?

12While it is yet in its greenness, and is not cut down, It withereth before any other herb.

13Such is the fate of all who forget God; So perisheth the hope of the ungodly.

14His confidence shall come to nought, And his trust shall prove a spider's web.

15He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand; He shall lay fast hold on it, but it shall not endure.

16He is in full green before the sun, And his branches shoot forth over his garden;

17His roots are entwined about the heap, And he seeth the place of stones;

18When he shall be destroyed from his place, It shall deny him, saying, 'I never saw thee.'

19Lo! such is the joy of his course! And others shall spring up from his place”

20Behold, God will not cast away an upright man; Nor will he help the evil-doers.

21While he filleth thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with gladness,

22They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, And the dwelling-place of the wicked shall come to nought.