7. And though your beginning was small, your future would flourish.
8. Now ask the previous generation; consider the findings of their fathers;
9. for we were born yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.
10. Will they not teach you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their hearts?
11. “Can papyrus grow tall without a marsh? Can reeds flourish without water?
12. When still in bloom and uncut, it withers more quickly than other grass.
13. Such are the ways of all who forget God; the hope of the godless perishes—
14. whose confidence is snapped off, his trust is a spider’s web.
15. He leans against his house but it does not stand, He holds fast to it, but it does not hold up.