Job 8

vayya'an bildad hashukhi vayyomar

Bildad the Shuhite said in reply:

ad-an temallel-elleh veruakh kabbir imre-fikha

How long will you speak such things? Your utterances are a mighty wind!

ha'el ye'avvet mishpat ve'im-shadday ye'avvet-tsedeq

Will God pervert the right? Will the Almighty pervert justice?

im-banekha khate'u-lo vayeshallekhem beyad-pisham

If your children sinned against [God], They were dispatched for their transgression.

im-attah teshakher el-el ve'el-shadday titkhannan

But if you seek God And supplicate the Almighty,

im-zakh veyashar attah ki-attah ya'ir alekha veshillam nevat tsidqekha

If you are blameless and upright, [God] will protect you, And grant well-being to your righteous home.

vehayah reshitekha mitsar ve'akharitekha yisgeh me'od

Though your beginning be small, In the end you will grow very great.

ki-she'al-na ledor rishon vekhonen lekheqer avotam

Ask the generation past, Study what their forebears have searched out—

ki-temol anakhnu velo neda ki tsel yamenu ale-arets

For we are of yesterday and know nothing; Our days on earth are a shadow—

halo-hem yorukha yomeru lakh umillibbam yotsi'u millim

Surely they will teach you and tell you, Speaking out of their understanding.

hayigeh-ggome belo vitsa yisgeh-akhu veli-mayim

Can papyrus thrive without marsh? Can rushes grow without water?

odennu ve'ibbo lo yiqqatef velifne khol-khatsir yivash

While still tender, not yet plucked, They would wither before any other grass.

ken orkhot kol-shokhekhe el vetiqvat khanef toved

Such is the fate of all who forget God; The hope of the impious man comes to naught—

asher-yaqot kislo uvet akkavish mivtakho

Whose confidence is a thread of gossamer, Whose trust is a spider’s web.

yisha'en al-beto velo ya'amod yakhaziq bo velo yaqum

He leans on his house—it will not stand; He seizes hold of it, but it will not hold.

ratov hu lifne-shamesh ve'al gannato yonaqto tetse

He stays fresh even in the sun; His shoots spring up in his garden;

al-gal shorashayw yesubbakhu bet avanim yekhezeh

His roots are twined around a heap, They take hold of a house of stones.

im-yevalle'ennu mimmeqomo vekhikhesh bo lo re'itikha

When he is uprooted from his place, It denies him, [saying,] “I never saw you.”

hen-hu mesos darko ume'afar akher yitsmakhu

Such is his happy lot; And from the earth others will grow.

hen-el lo yimas-tam velo-yakhaziq beyad-mere'im

Surely God does not despise the blameless, And gives no support to evildoers.

ad-yemalleh sekhoq pikha usefatekha teru'ah

Your mouth will yet be filled with laughter, And your lips with shouts of joy.

sone'ekha yilbeshu-voshet ve'ohel resha'im enennu

Your enemies will be clothed in disgrace; The tent of the wicked will vanish.