8:1   Bildad from Shuah said:

8:2   How long will you talk and keep saying nothing?

8:3   Does God All-Powerful stand in the way of justice?

8:4   He made your children pay for their sins.

8:5   So why don't you turn to him

8:6   and start living right? Then he will decide to rescue and restore you to your place of honor.

8:7   Your future will be brighter by far than your past.

8:8   Our ancestors were wise, so learn from them.

8:9   Our own time has been short, like a fading shadow, and we know very little.

8:10   But they will instruct you with great understanding.

8:11   Papyrus reeds grow healthy only in a swamp,

8:12   and if the water dries up, they die sooner than grass.

8:13   Such is the hopeless future of all who turn from God

8:14   and trust in something as frail as a spider's web--

8:15   they take hold and fall because it's so flimsy.

8:16   Sinful people are like plants with spreading roots and plenty of sun and water.

8:17   They wrap their roots tightly around rocks.

8:18   But once they are pulled up, they have no more place;

8:19   their life slips away, and other plants grow there.

8:20   We know God doesn't reject an innocent person or help a sinner.

8:21   And so, he will make you happy and give you something to smile about.

8:22   But your evil enemies will be put to shame and disappear forever.