Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent

Job 8

1 Then c Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 "How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a d great wind?
 3 e Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
 4 If your f children have sinned against him,
he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
 5 If you will seek God
and g plead with the Almighty for mercy,
 6 if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will h rouse himself for you
and i restore your rightful habitation.
 7 And though your beginning was small,
j your latter days will be very great.

8 "For k inquire, please, of bygone ages,
and consider what l the fathers have searched out.
 9 For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,
for our days on earth are m a shadow.
 10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and utter words out of their understanding?

11 "Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
 12 While yet in flower and not cut down,
they n wither before any other plant.
 13 Such are the paths of all who o forget God;
p the hope of q the godless shall perish.
 14 His confidence is severed,
and his trust is r a spider's web. 1
15 He leans against his s house, but it does not stand;
he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
 16 He is a lush plant before the sun,
and his t shoots spread over his garden.
 17 His roots entwine the stone heap;
he looks upon a house of stones.
 18 If he is destroyed from his u place,
then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never v seen you.'
 19 Behold, this is the joy of his way,
and out of w the soil others will spring.

20 "Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,
nor take the hand of evildoers.
 21 He will yet x fill your mouth with laughter,
and your lips with shouting.
 22 Those who hate you will be y clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more."

  1. Cross References
    Job 2:11
    Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.
  2. Cross References
    1 Kings 19:11
    And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
    Job 15:2
    Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
  3. Cross References
    Job 34:12
    Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the A...
    Genesis 18:25
    Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put t...
    Deuteronomy 32:4
    The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways...
    2 Chronicles 19:7
    Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you....
    Ezra 9:15
    O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we...
    Daniel 9:14
    Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity ...
    Romans 3:5
    But if our unrighteousness serves to show the r...
  4. Cross References
    Job 1:5
    And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually.
    Job 1:18 - 19
    While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house.
  5. Cross References
    Job 9:15
    Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
  6. Cross References
    Psalms 7:6
    Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
  7. Cross References
    Proverbs 3:33
    The Lord 's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
  8. Cross References
    Job 42:12
    And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
    James 5:11
    Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
  9. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:32
    For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.
    Deuteronomy 32:7
    Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.
    Job 15:18
    (what wise men have told, without hiding it from their fathers.
  10. Cross References
    Job 15:18
    (what wise men have told, without hiding it from their fathers.
  11. Cross References
    Job 14:2
    He comes out like a flower and withers; he flee...
    Job 17:7
    My eye has grown dim from vexation, and all my ...
    1 Chronicles 29:15
    For we are strangers before you and sojourners,...
    Psalms 102:11
    My days are like an evening shadow; I wither aw...
    Psalms 109:23
    I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken...
    Psalms 144:4
    Man is like a breath; his days are like a passi...
    Ecclesiastes 6:12
    For who knows what is good for man while he liv...
  12. Cross References
    Psalms 37:2
    For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.
    Psalms 129:6
    Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up.
  13. Cross References
    Psalms 9:17
    The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.
  14. Cross References
    Proverbs 10:28
    The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.
    Proverbs 11:7
    When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too.
  15. Cross References
    Job 13:16
    This will be my salvation, that the godless shall not come before him.
    Job 15:34
    For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
    Job 27:8
    For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life?
  16. Cross References
    Isaiah 59:5 - 6
    They hatch adders' eggs; they weave the spider's web; he who eats their eggs dies, and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
  17. Cross References
    Job 27:18
    He builds his house like a moth's, like a booth that a watchman makes.
  18. Cross References
    Psalms 80:11
    It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River.
  19. Cross References
    Job 7:10
    He returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore.
  20. Cross References
    Job 7:8
    The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.
  21. Cross References
    1 Samuel 2:7 - 8
    The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.
    Psalms 103:16
    For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
    Psalms 113:7
    He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.
  22. Cross References
    Psalms 126:2
    Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them.
  23. Cross References
    Psalms 35:26
    Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me!
    Psalms 132:18
    His enemies I will clothe with shame, but on him his crown will shine.
    Psalms 109:29
    May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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