8 Now ask the previous generation; consider the findings of their fathers;
9 for we were born yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.
10 Will they not teach you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their hearts?
11 “Can papyrus grow tall without a marsh? Can reeds flourish without water?
12 When still in bloom and uncut, it withers more quickly than other grass.
13 Such are the ways of all who forget God; the hope of the godless perishes—
14 whose confidence is snapped off, his trust is a spider’s web.