Job 8:8-19

8“Ask the people of past generations. Find out what their ancestors had learned.

9We have only been around since yesterday, and we know nothing. Our days on earth are only a fleeting shadow.

10Won’t their words teach you? Won’t they share their thoughts with you?

11“Can papyrus grow up where there is no swamp? Can rushes grow tall without water?

12Even if they were fresh and not cut, they would wither quicker than grass.

13The same thing happens to all who forget God. The hope of the godless dies.

14His confidence is easily shattered. His trust is a spider’s web.

15If one leans on his house, it collapses. If one holds on to it, it will not support his weight.

16He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine. The shoots spread over his garden.

17Its roots weave through a pile of stones. They cling to a stone house.

18But when it is uprooted from its place, ⌞the ground⌟ denies it ⌞and says⌟, ‘I never saw you!’

19That is its joy in this life, and others sprout from the same ground to ⌞take its place⌟.