1: Bildad from Shuhah was next to speak:
2: "How can you keep on talking like this? You're talking nonsense, and noisy nonsense at that.
3: Does God mess up? Does God Almighty ever get things backwards?
4: It's plain that your children sinned against him--otherwise, why would God have punished them?
5: Here's what you must do--and don't put it off any longer: Get down on your knees before God Almighty.
6: If you're as innocent and upright as you say, it's not too late--he'll come running; he'll set everything right again, reestablish your fortunes.
7: Even though you're not much right now, you'll end up better than ever.
8: "Put the question to our ancestors, study what they learned from their ancestors.
9: For we're newcomers at this, with a lot to learn, and not too long to learn it.
10: So why not let the ancients teach you, tell you what's what, instruct you in what they knew from experience?
11: Can mighty pine trees grow tall without soil? Can luscious tomatoes flourish without water?
12: Blossoming flowers look great before they're cut or picked, but without soil or water they wither more quickly than grass.
13: That's what happens to all who forget God--all their hopes come to nothing.
14: They hang their life from one thin thread, they hitch their fate to a spider web.
15: One jiggle and the thread breaks, one jab and the web collapses.
16: Or they're like weeds springing up in the sunshine, invading the garden,
17: Spreading everywhere, overtaking the flowers, getting a foothold even in the rocks.
18: But when the gardener rips them out by the roots, the garden doesn't miss them one bit.
19: The sooner the godless are gone, the better; then good plants can grow in their place.
20: "There's no way that God will reject a good person, and there is no way he'll help a bad one.
21: God will let you laugh again; you'll raise the roof with shouts of joy,
22: With your enemies thoroughly discredited, their house of cards collapsed." HKJob ContinuesHK How Can Mere Mortals Get Right with God?