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.