Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said:
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How long wilt thou speak these things, Seeing that the words of thy mouth are as a mighty wind?
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Doth God pervert judgment? Or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
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If thy children sinned against Him, He delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
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If thou wouldest seek earnestly unto God, And make thy supplication to the Almighty;
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If thou wert pure and upright; Surely now He would awake for thee, And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
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And though thy beginning was small, Yet thy end should greatly increase.
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For inquire, I pray thee, of the former generation, And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out—
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For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days upon earth are a shadow—
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Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, And utter words out of their heart?
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Can the rush shoot up without mire? Can the reed-grass grow without water?
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Whilst it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down, It withereth before any other herb.
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So are the paths of all that forget God; And the hope of the godless man shall perish;
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Whose confidence is gossamer, And whose trust is a spider’s web.
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He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand; He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.
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He is green before the sun, And his shoots go forth over his garden.
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His roots are wrapped about the heap, He beholdeth the place of stones.
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If he be destroyed from his place, Then it shall deny him: ‘I have not seen thee.’
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Behold, this is the joy of his way, And out of the earth shall others spring.
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Behold, God will not cast away an innocent man, Neither will He uphold the evil-doers;
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Till He fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting.
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They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; And the tent of the wicked shall be no more.
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