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8:1  Then Bildad from Shuah replied [to Job],
8:2  "How long will you say these things? How long will your words be so windy?
8:3  Does God distort justice, or does the Almighty distort righteousness?
8:4  If your children sinned against him, he allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sinfulness.
8:5  If you search for God and plead for mercy from the Almighty,
8:6  if you are moral and ethical, then he will rise up on your behalf and prove your righteousness by rebuilding your home.
8:7  Then what you had in the past will seem small compared with the great prosperity you'll have in the future.
8:8  "Ask the people of past generations. Find out what their ancestors had learned.
8:9  We have only been around since yesterday, and we know nothing. Our days on earth are only a fleeting shadow.
8:10  Won't their words teach you? Won't they share their thoughts with you?
8:11  "Can papyrus grow up where there is no swamp? Can rushes grow tall without water?
8:12  Even if they were fresh and not cut, they would wither quicker than grass.
8:13  The same thing happens to all who forget God. The hope of the godless dies.
8:14  His confidence is easily shattered. His trust is a spider's web.
8:15  If one leans on his house, it collapses. If one holds on to it, it will not support his weight.
8:16  He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine. The shoots spread over his garden.
8:17  Its roots weave through a pile of stones. They cling to a stone house.
8:18  But when it is uprooted from its place, [the ground] denies it [and says], 'I never saw you!'
8:19  That is its joy in this life, and others sprout from the same ground to [take its place].
8:20  "Certainly, God does not reject a person of integrity or give a helping hand to wicked people.
8:21  He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with happy shouting.
8:22  Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will cease to exist."