But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

“The prisoners are at ease together;
They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

“Then a spirit passed by my face;
The hair of my flesh bristled up.

“Behold this; we have investigated it, and so it is.
Hear it, and know for yourself.”

“Please hear my argument
And listen to the contentions of my lips.

“Do you hear the secret counsel of God,
And limit wisdom to yourself?

“You will pray to Him, and He will hear you;
And you will pay your vows.

“Behold, these are the fringes of His ways;
And how faint a word we hear of Him!
But His mighty thunder, who can understand?”

“Will God hear his cry
When distress comes upon him?

May my wife grind for another,
And let others kneel down over her.

(But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
And from infancy I guided her),

“Oh that I had one to hear me!
Behold, here is my signature;
Let the Almighty answer me!
And the indictment which my adversary has written,

“However now, Job, please hear my speech,
And listen to all my words.

“Hear my words, you wise men,
And listen to me, you who know.

“But if you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words.

So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And that He might hear the cry of the afflicted—

“Look at the heavens and see;
And behold the clouds—they are higher than you.

“If they hear and serve Him,
They will end their days in prosperity
And their years in pleasures.

“But if they do not hear, they shall perish by the sword
And they will die without knowledge.

And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;
And here shall your proud waves stop’?

“Can you lead forth a constellation in its season,
And guide the Bear with her satellites?

“Can you send forth lightnings that they may go
And say to you, ‘Here we are’?

“He scorns the tumult of the city,
The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.

“Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes,
Or will he harrow the valleys after you?

For she abandons her eggs to the earth
And warms them in the dust,

“She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers;
Though her labor be in vain, she is unconcerned;

Because God has made her forget wisdom,
And has not given her a share of understanding.

‘Hear, now, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You instruct me.’