Dual PanelBildad's first speechHow long will you talk?
1Bildad from Shuah said:
2How long will you talk and keep saying nothing?
3Does God All-Powerful stand in the way of justice?
4He made your children pay for their sins.
5So why don't you turn to him
6and start living right? Then he will decide to rescue and restore you to your place of honour.
7Your future will be brighter by far than your past.
Our ancestors were wise
8 Our ancestors were wise, so learn from them.
9Our own time has been short, like a fading shadow, and we know very little.
10But they will instruct you with great understanding.
11Papyrus reeds grow healthy only in a swamp,
12and if the water dries up, they die sooner than grass.
13Such is the hopeless future of all who turn from God
14and trust in something as frail as a spider's web—
15they take hold and fall because it's so flimsy.
16Sinful people are like plants with spreading roots and plenty of sun and water.
17They wrap their roots tightly around rocks.
18But once they are pulled up, they have no more place;
19their life slips away, and other plants grow there.
20We know God doesn't reject an innocent person or help a sinner.
21And so, he will make you happy and give you something to smile about.
22But your evil enemies will be put to shame and disappear for ever.