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1.
Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
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2.
"How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind.
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3.
Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
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4.
When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
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5.
But if you will look to God and plead with the Almighty,
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6.
if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place.
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7.
Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.
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8.
"Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned,
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9.
for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.
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10.
Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
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11.
Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water?
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12.
While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass.
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13.
Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.
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14.
What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider's web.
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15.
He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.
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16.
He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden;
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17.
it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones.
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18.
But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.'
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19.
Surely its life withers away, and from the soil other plants grow.
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20.
"Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
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21.
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
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22.
Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more."
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