| 1. | And Bildad the Shuhite answereth and saith: -- |
| 2. | Till when dost thou speak these things? And a strong wind -- sayings of thy mouth? |
| 3. | Doth God pervert judgment? And doth the Mighty One pervert justice? |
| 4. | If thy sons have sinned before Him, And He doth send them away, By the hand of their transgression, |
| 5. | If thou dost seek early unto God, And unto the Mighty makest supplication, |
| 6. | If pure and upright thou `art', Surely now He waketh for thee, And hath completed The habitation of thy righteousness. |
| 7. | And thy beginning hath been small, And thy latter end is very great. |
| 8. | For, ask I pray thee of a former generation, And prepare to a search of their fathers, |
| 9. | (For of yesterday we `are', and we know not, For a shadow `are' our days on earth.) |
| 10. | Do they not shew thee -- speak to thee, And from their heart bring forth words? |
| 11. | `Doth a rush wise without mire? A reed increase without water? |
| 12. | While it `is' in its budding -- uncropt, Even before any herb it withereth. |
| 13. | So `are' the paths of all forgetting God, And the hope of the profane doth perish, |
| 14. | Whose confidence is loathsome, And the house of a spider his trust. |
| 15. | He leaneth on his house -- and it standeth not: He taketh hold on it -- and it abideth not. |
| 16. | Green he `is' before the sun, And over his garden his branch goeth out. |
| 17. | By a heap his roots are wrapped, A house of stones he looketh for. |
| 18. | If `one' doth destroy him from his place, Then it hath feigned concerning him, I have not seen thee! |
| 19. | Lo, this `is' the joy of his way, And from the dust others spring up.' |
| 20. | Lo, God doth not reject the perfect, Nor taketh hold on the hand of evil doers. |
| 21. | While he filleth with laughter thy mouth, And thy lips with shouting, |
| 22. | Those hating thee do put on shame, And the tent of the wicked is not! |