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8:1  Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
8:2  “How long will you [L continue to] say such things? Your words are ·no more than [L a strong] wind [C he accuses Job of passion without substance].
8:3  God does not ·twist [pervert] justice; ·the Almighty [Shaddai] does not ·make wrong [twist; pervert] ·what is right [righteousness].
8:4  [L If] Your children sinned against God, and he ·punished them for their sins [L sent them into the power of their transgression].
8:5  ·But [L If] you ·should ask God for help [L look for God] and ·pray [plead] to ·the Almighty [Shaddai] for ·mercy [grace].
8:6  If you are ·good [pure] and ·honest [virtuous; 1:1, 8; 2:3], he will ·stand up [L immediately rouse himself] for you and ·bring you back [restore you] ·where you belong [to your right/righteous pasture/place/home].
8:7  ·Where you began will seem unimportant [L Though your start was small], ·because your future will be so successful [L your end will be exalted].
8:8  “Ask ·old people [L the previous generation]; ·find out [reflect on] what their ancestors learned,
8:9  because we were only born yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are only a shadow.
8:10  Those people will teach you and tell you and speak about what they know.
8:11  ·Papyrus plants cannot [L Do papyrus plants…?] grow where there is no swamp, ·and reeds cannot [L or reeds…?] grow tall without water.
8:12  While they are still growing and not yet cut, they will dry up quicker than grass [Ps. 37:2; 102:4, 11; 129:6].
8:13  That is ·what will happen to [L the path of] those who forget God; the hope of the ·wicked [godless] will ·be gone [perish].
8:14  ·What they hope in is easily broken [L Their confidence is gossamer thread]; what they trust is like a spider’s web [C without substance].
8:15  They lean on ·the spider’s web [L its house], but it ·breaks [L does not stand]. They grab it, but it does not hold up.
8:16  They are like well-watered plants in the sunshine that spread their roots all through the garden.
8:17  They wrap their roots around a pile of rocks and look for a place among the stones.
8:18  But if a plant is torn from its place, then that place rejects it and says, ‘I never saw you.’
8:19  Now ·joy has gone away [or it (the plant) dissolves on the way]; other plants grow up from the same dirt.
8:20  “Surely God does not reject the innocent or ·give strength to [or grasp the hand of] those who do evil.
8:21  God will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
8:22  ·Your enemies [L Those who hate you] will be covered with shame, and the tents of the wicked will be gone.”