Job 8
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said,
| ויען בלדד השוחי ויאמר |
2 “How much longer will you go on talking like this? The words coming out of your mouth are a lot of hot air!
| עד-אן תמלל-אלה ורוח כביר אמרי-פיך |
3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
| האל יעות משפט ואם-שדי יעות-צדק |
4 Your children must have sinned against him, and so they deserved the punishment he inflicted on them.
| אם-בניך חטאו-לו וישלחם ביד-פשעם |
5 But if you pray to God and ask for his help,
| אם-אתה תשחר אל-אל ואל-שדי תתחנן |
6 if you live a clean life and do what is right, then he would act to make things right for you in your home.
| אם-זך וישר אתה כי-עתה יעיר עליך ושלם נות צדקך |
7 Though you began with next to nothing, you will end up with so much!
| והיה ראשיתך מצער ואחריתך ישגה מאד |
8 Why don't you ask what previous generations discovered, examine what our ancestors found out? We were born yesterday and don't know anything!
| כי-שאל-נא לדר רישון וכונן לחקר אבותם |
9 Our days on earth fade as quickly as a passing shadow.
| כי-תמול אנחנו ולא נדע כי צל ימינו עלי-ארץ |
10 Won't they teach you and explain what they know?
| הלא-הם יורוך יאמרו לך ומלבם יוצאו מלים |
11 Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds grow without water?
| היגאה-גמא בלא בצה ישגה-אחו בלי-מים |
12 Even without being cut, while they are still flowering, they wither faster than grass.
| עדנו באבו לא יקטף ולפני כל-חציר ייבש |
13 This is what happens to everyone who forgets God. The hopes of those who live without God come to nothing.
| כן--ארחות כל-שכחי אל ותקות חנף תאבד |
14 Their confidence is like holding on to a flimsy spider's web.
| אשר-יקוט כסלו ובית עכביש מבטחו |
15 They look to their home to provide security, but it provides no support. They try to hang onto it, but it doesn't last.
| ישען על-ביתו ולא יעמד יחזיק בו ולא יקום |
16 Those who live without God are like a luxuriant plant growing in the sun, spreading its shoots all over the garden.
| רטב הוא לפני-שמש ועל גנתו ינקתו תצא |
17 It twists its roots down through the stones, and holds on to rock.
| על-גל שרשיו יסבכו בית אבנים יחזה |
18 But when it's cut down, the place where it was disowns it, saying, ‘I never even saw you.’
| אם-יבלענו ממקמו וכחש בו לא ראיתיך |
19 Its life is over, and others spring up from the earth to take its place.
| הן-הוא משוש דרכו ומעפר אחר יצמחו |
20 Look, God doesn't reject someone who is innocent, and he doesn't support those who are guilty.
| הן-אל לא ימאס-תם ולא-יחזיק ביד-מרעים |
21 He can make you laugh with happiness again and shout for joy.
| עד-ימלה שחוק פיך ושפתיך תרועה |
22 Those who hate you will be put to shame, and the place where the wicked live will be destroyed.”
| שנאיך ילבשו-בשת ואהל רשעים איננו |
