1 Então, respondeu Bildade, o suíta:
2 Até quando falarás tais coisas?
E até quando as palavras da tua boca serão qual vento impetuoso?
3 Perverteria Deus o direito
ou perverteria o Todo-Poderoso a justiça?
4 Se teus filhos pecaram contra ele,
também ele os lançou no poder da sua transgressão.
5 Mas, se tu buscares a Deus
e ao Todo-Poderoso pedires misericórdia,
6 se fores puro e reto,
ele, sem demora, despertará em teu favor
e restaurará a justiça da tua morada.
7 O teu primeiro estado, na verdade, terá sido pequeno,
mas o teu último crescerá sobremaneira.
8 Pois, eu te peço, pergunta agora a gerações passadas
e atenta para a experiência de seus pais;
9 porque nós somos de ontem e nada sabemos;
porquanto nossos dias sobre a terra são como a sombra.
10 Porventura, não te ensinarão os pais, não haverão de falar-te
e do próprio entendimento não proferirão estas palavras:
11 Pode o papiro crescer sem lodo?
Ou viça o junco sem água?
12 Estando ainda na sua verdura e ainda não colhidos,
todavia, antes de qualquer outra erva se secam.
13 São assim as veredas de todos quantos se esquecem de Deus;
e a esperança do ímpio perecerá.
14 A sua firmeza será frustrada,
e a sua confiança é teia de aranha.
15 Encostar-se-á à sua casa, e ela não se manterá,
agarrar-se-á a ela, e ela não ficará em pé.
16 Ele é viçoso perante o sol,
e os seus renovos irrompem no seu jardim;
17 as suas raízes se entrelaçam num montão de pedras
e penetram até às muralhas.
18 Mas, se Deus o arranca do seu lugar,
então, este o negará, dizendo: Nunca te vi.
19 Eis em que deu a sua vida!
E do pó brotarão outros.
20 Eis que Deus não rejeita ao íntegro,
nem toma pela mão os malfeitores.
21 Ele te encherá a boca de riso
e os teus lábios, de júbilo.
22 Teus aborrecedores se vestirão de ignomínia,
e a tenda dos perversos não subsistirá.
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 How long wilt thou speak these things?
And how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a mighty wind?
3 Doth God pervert justice?
Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness?
4 If thy children have sinned against him,
And he hath delivered them into the hand of their transgression;
5 If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God,
And make thy supplication to the Almighty;
6 If thou wert pure and upright:
Surely now he would awake for thee,
And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
7 And though thy beginning was small,
Yet thy latter end would greatly increase.
8 For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age,
And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out
9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing,
Because our days upon earth are a shadow);
10 Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee,
And utter words out of their heart?
11 Can the rush grow up without mire?
Can the flag grow without water?
12 Whilst it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down,
It withereth before any other herb.
13 So are the paths of all that forget God;
And the hope of the godless man shall perish:
14 Whose confidence shall break in sunder,
And whose trust is a spider’s web.
15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand:
He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.
16 He is green before the sun,
And his shoots go forth over his garden.
17 His roots are wrapped about the stone-heap,
He beholdeth the place of stones.
18 If he be destroyed from his place,
Then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.
19 Behold, this is the joy of his way;
And out of the earth shall others spring.
20 Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man,
Neither will he uphold the evil-doers.
21 He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter,
And thy lips with shouting.
22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame;
And the tent of the wicked shall be no more.
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 "How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind.
3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4 When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
5 But if you will seek God earnestly and plead with the Almighty,
6 if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your prosperous state.
7 Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.
8 "Ask the former generation and find out what their ancestors learned,
9 for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.
10 Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water?
12 While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass.
13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.
14 What they trust in is fragile "; what they rely on is a spider's web.
15 They lean on the web, but it gives way; they cling to it, but it does not hold.
16 They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden;
17 it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones.
18 But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.'
19 Surely its life withers away, and "from the soil other plants grow.
20 "Surely God does not reject one who is blameless or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
22 Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more."