Does God pervert judgment?
1 Bildad the Shuhite spoke:
2 How long will you say such things?
Your words are long-winded bluster ings.
3 Does God pervert judgment?
Does the Almighty distort justice?
4 If your children did him wrong,
he has made them pay for their sins.
5 But if you will have recourse to God
and plead with the Almighty,
6 if you are faultless and righteous,
even now he will care for you
and restore you to your rightful place.
7 And your prosperity will be such
as to make you forget former times.
8 Inquire of the past generations
and learn from their ancestors’ experience;
9 for born but yesterday, we know nothing
and our days on earth are but a sha dow.
10 They will correct and teach you
with words that come from the heart.
11 Can papyrus thrive without marsh?
Can reeds flourish without water?
12 Even if still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than any plant.
13 Such is the end of those who forget God;
the hope of the godless perishes.
14 His trust is hanging by a thread;
a spider’s web is what he relies on.
15 He leans on his house, but it does not stand;
he clings to it, but it crumbles.
16 He is sturdy under the sun,
spreading its shoots in the garden,
17 its roots entwined around the rocks,
holding fast to each stone.
18 But when uprooted, the place re jects it:
“I have never known you.”
19 And there it lies rotting by the road,
while other plants grow in its place.
20 Indeed God does not reject the blame less,
nor lend his hand to the evildoer.
21 He will again fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with joyful shouts.
22 Your enemies will be confused,
and the tent of the wicked will disappear.