1 - Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

2 - How long wilt thou speak these things? And [how long] shall the words of thy mouth be [like] a mighty wind?

3 - Doth God pervert justice? Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness?

4 - If thy children have sinned against him, And he hath delivered them into the hand of their transgression;

5 - If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God, And make thy supplication to the Almighty;

6 - If thou wert pure and upright: Surely now he would awake for thee, And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

7 - And though thy beginning was small, Yet thy latter end would greatly increase.

8 - For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out:

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

10 - Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, And utter words out of their heart?

11 - Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water?

12 - Whilst it is yet in its greenness, [and] not cut down, It withereth before any [other] herb.

13 - So are the paths of all that forget God; And the hope of the godless man shall perish:

14 - Whose confidence shall break in sunder, And whose trust is a spider's web.

15 - He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.

16 - He is green before the sun, And his shoots go forth over his garden.

17 - His roots are wrapped about the [stone] -heap, He beholdeth the place of stones.

18 - If he be destroyed from his place, Then it shall deny him, [saying], I have not seen thee.

19 - Behold, this is the joy of his way; And out of the earth shall others spring.

20 - Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he uphold the evil-doers.

21 - He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting.

22 - They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; And the tent of the wicked shall be no more.