[1] Then Bildad from Shuah answered,
[2] “How long will you talk like that? Your words blow like a strong wind.
[3] God is always fair. God All-Powerful never changes the things that are right.
[4] If your children sinned against God, then he has punished them. They paid for their sins.
[5] But now Job, look to God and pray to the All-Powerful.
[6] If you are pure and good, then he will quickly come to help you. He will give your family back to you.
[7] Then you will have a lot more than you had in the beginning!
[8] “Ask the old people. Find out what their ancestors learned.
[9] It seems like we were born yesterday. We are too young to know for sure. Our days on earth are very short, like a shadow.
[10] Maybe the old people can teach you. Maybe they can teach you what they have learned.”
[11] “Can papyrus grow tall on a dry land? Can reeds grow without water?
[12] No. If the water dries up, then they will also be dry. They will be too small to cut and use.
[13] People who forget God are like those reeds. The person who forgets God has no hope.
[14] That person has nothing to lean on. His security is like a spider’s web.
[15] If a person leans against a spider’s web, the web will break. He holds on to the spider’s web, but it won’t support him.
[16] That man is like a plant that has plenty of water and sunshine. Its branches spread all through the garden.
[17] It wraps its roots around a pile of rocks, looking for a place to grow in the rocks.
[18] But if the plant is moved from its place, ˻it will die˼ and no one would know that it had ever been there.
[19] But the plant was happy, and another will grow in its place.
[20] God doesn’t abandon innocent people. He doesn’t help evil people.
[21] God will still fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with happy shouts.
[22] But shame will be the clothes your enemies wear. And the homes of wicked people will be destroyed.”