7. Your beginning will seem so small,since your future will flourish.
8. “For inquire now of the former generation,and pay attention to the findings of their ancestors;
9. For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge,since our days on earth are but a shadow.
10. Will they not instruct you and speak to you,and bring forth wordsfrom their understanding?
11. Can the papyrus plant grow tall where there is no marsh?Can reeds flourish without water?
12. While they are still beginning to flower and not ripe for cutting,they can wither away faster than any grass!
13. Such is the destiny of all who forget God;the hope of the godless perishes,
14. whose trust is in something futile,whose security is a spider’s web.
15. He leans against his house but it does not hold up,he takes hold of it but it does not stand.
16. He is a well-watered plant in the sun,its shoots spread over its garden.
17. It wraps its roots around a heap of stonesand it looks for a place among stones.