Job 8

Good News Translation

8 ^1-2Are you finally through with your windy speech?
³God never twists justice;
    he never fails to do what is right.
⁴Your children must have sinned against God,
    and so he punished them as they deserved.
⁵But turn now and plead with Almighty God;
⁶    if you are so honest and pure,
    then God will come and help you
    and restore your household as your reward.
⁷All the wealth you lost will be nothing
    compared with what God will give you then.

⁸^(A)Look for a moment at ancient wisdom;
    consider the truths our ancestors learned.
⁹Our life is short, we know nothing at all;
    we pass like shadows across the earth.
¹⁰But let the ancient wise people teach you;
    listen to what they had to say:

¹¹“Reeds can't grow where there is no water;
    they are never found outside a swamp.
¹²If the water dries up, they are the first to wither,
    while still too small to be cut and used.
¹³Godless people are like those reeds;
    their hope is gone, once God is forgotten.
¹⁴They trust a thread—a spider's web.
¹⁵    If they lean on a web, will it hold them up?
    If they grab for a thread, will it help them stand?”

¹⁶Evil people sprout like weeds in the sun,
    like weeds that spread all through the garden.
¹⁷Their roots wrap around the stones
    and hold fast to^[a] every rock.
¹⁸But then pull them up—
    no one will ever know they were there.
¹⁹Yes, that's all the joy evil people have;
    others now come and take their places.

²⁰But God will never abandon the faithful
    or ever give help to evil people.
²¹He will let you laugh and shout again,
²²    but he will bring disgrace on those who hate you,
    and the homes of the wicked will vanish.