Bildad
1Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2“How long will you say such things?
Your words are a blustering wind.
3Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4When your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
5But if you will seek God earnestly
and plead with the Almighty,
6if you are pure and upright,
even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
and restore you to your prosperous state.
7Your beginnings will seem humble,
so prosperous will your future be.
8“Ask the former generation
and find out what their ancestors learned,
9for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,
and our days on earth are but a shadow.
10Will they not instruct you and tell you?
Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
11Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Can reeds thrive without water?
12While still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than grass.
13Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
so perishes the hope of the godless.
14What they trust in is fragile8:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.;
what they rely on is a spider’s web.
15They lean on the web, but it gives way;
they cling to it, but it does not hold.
16They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots over the garden;
17it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
and looks for a place among the stones.
18But when it is torn from its spot,
that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’
19Surely its life withers away,
and8:19 Or Surely all the joy it has / is that from the soil other plants grow.
20“Surely God does not reject one who is blameless
or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
21He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
22Your enemies will be clothed in shame,
and the tents of the wicked will be no more.”
Mawu a Bilidadi
1Pamenepo Bilidadi wa ku Suki anayankha kuti,
2“Kodi udzakhala ukuyankhula zoterezi mpaka liti?
Mawu ako ali ngati mphepo yamkuntho.
3Kodi Mulungu amapotoza chiweruzo cholungama?
Kodi Wamphamvuzonse amalephera kuchita zachilungamo?
4Pamene ana ako anamuchimwira Mulungu,
Iye anawapereka kuti alangidwe chifukwa cha tchimo lawo.
5Koma utayangʼana kwa Mulungu,
ndi kudandaulira Wamphamvuzonse,
6ngati uli wangwiro ndi wolungama mtima
ngakhale tsopano Iye adzachitapo kanthu mʼmalo mwako
ndipo adzakubwezeretsa pa malo ako oyenera.
7Chiyambi chako chidzaoneka ngati chochepa
koma chimaliziro chako chidzakhala chopambana.
8“Funsa kwa anthu amvulazakale
ndipo upeze zimene makolo awo anaziphunzira
9pakuti ife ndife ana adzulodzuloli ndipo sitidziwa chilichonse,
ndipo moyo wathu pa dziko lapansi uli ngati chithunzithunzi.
10Kodi iwo sadzakulangiza ndi kukufotokozera?
Kodi sadzakuwuza mawu ochokera pa zimene amazidziwa?
11Kodi bango nʼkumera pa nthaka yopanda chinyontho?
Nanga mawango nʼkukula bwino popanda madzi?
12Popanda madzi, zimenezi zimafota zikanali zaziwisi ndi zosadula;
zimawuma msangamsanga kuposa bango.
13Ndimo mmene amachitira anthu onse amene amayiwala Mulungu;
ndi mmene chiyembekezo cha munthu wosapembedza Mulungu chimathera.
14Kulimba mtima kwake kumafowoka;
zimene iye amadalira zili ngati ukonde wa kangawude.
15Iye amatsamira ukonde wake, koma umaduka;
amawugwiritsitsa koma sulimba.
16Munthu woyipayo ali ngati chomera chothiriridwa bwino chimene chili pa dzuwa,
nthambi zake zimatambalala pa munda wake;
17mizu yake imayanga pa mulu wa miyala
ndi kufunafuna malo woti izikike pa miyalapo.
18Koma pamene yachotsedwa pamalo pakepo,
pamalopo pamakana chomeracho ndi kuti, ‘Ine sindinakuonepo.’
19Ndithudi chomeracho chimafota,
ndipo pa nthakapo pamatuluka zomera zina.
20“Ndithudi, Mulungu sakana munthu amene alibe cholakwa
kapena kulimbikitsa anthu ochita zoyipa.
21Iye adzadzaza mʼkamwa mwako ndi phwete
ndipo milomo yako idzafuwula ndi chimwemwe.
22Adani ako adzachita manyazi,
ndipo malo okhalamo anthu oyipa sadzaonekanso.”
