But he said to her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. We have also received good from God, and should we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

because it shut not up the womb that bare me. For then should these sorrows have been hid from mine eyes.

“Why did the knees receive me,
And why the breasts, that I should suck?

For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

Or I should have been as a hidden untimely birth, as infants that never saw light.

That should be joy to the man whose way is hid, which God keepeth back from him.

"If someone should attempt a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can refrain from speaking?

For then should it be heavier than the sand of the sea.

Then should I yet have comfort; and in the pain which spareth not I would rejoice that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

“What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should endure?

“For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend;
So that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty.

“What is man that You [should] magnify him [and think him important]?
And that You are concerned about him?

“And that You examine him every morning
And try and test him every moment?

And why wilt thou not remove my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? For, now, in the dust, should I lie down, and thou shouldst seek me diligently, and I should not be.

Should, GOD, pervert justice? Or, the Almighty, pervert righteousness?

If thou wouldest live a pure and godly life; should he not wake up unto thee immediately, and give thee the beauty of righteousness again?

Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.

If he should swallow him down from his place, and it lied upon it: I saw thee not

I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?

“If one should want to contend or dispute with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

"{If} he passes by me, {I would not see him}; and [if] he should move on, {I would not recognize him}.

How much less that, I, should answer him, should choose my words with him?

If I summon [him], and he should answer me, I do not believe that he will listen to my voice--

If I should justify myself, mine own mouth, would condemn me, - I blameless? then had it shewn me perverse.

I blameless? I should not know my own soul, I should despise my own life!

“I am accounted wicked,
Why then should I toil in vain?

“If I should wash myself with snow
And cleanse my hands with lye,

Then, in a ditch, wouldst thou plunge me, and mine own clothes should abhor me:

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him; that we should come together in judgment.

There is not an umpire between us, who should lay his hand upon us both.

I will say to God, 'You should not condemn me; let me know why you contend [against] me.

‘Does it indeed seem right to You to oppress,
To despise and reject the work of Your hands,
And to look with favor on the schemes of the wicked?

That You should seek for my guilt
And search after my sin?

‘Should my head be lifted up, You would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your power against me.

"Why then did you bring me out from the womb? I should have died and no eye would have seen me!

‘I should have been as though I had not been,
Carried from womb to tomb.’

Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man of much talk be justified?

Should thy fictions make men hold their peace? and shouldest thou mock, and no one make thee ashamed?

For it is he that knoweth the vanity of men. He seeth their wickedness also; should he not then consider it?

Then should the residue of thy life be as clear as the noon day, and spring forth as the morning.

Then shouldest thou take thy rest, and no man to make thee afraid, yea many one should set much by thee.

Oh that ye would, altogether held your peace, and it should serve you for wisdom!

Will it be well if he should search you out? or as one mocketh at a man, will ye mock at him?

“Will not His majesty terrify you,
And will not the dread of Him fall upon you?

“Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
And put my life in my hands?

Who is he that contendeth with me? For if I were silent now, I should expire.

“How many are my iniquities and sins [that so much sorrow should come to me]?
Make me recognize and understand my transgression and my sin.

Though there is - for a tree - hope, - if it should be cut down, that, again, it will grow, and, the tender branch thereof, will not cease;

If its root, should become old in the earth, and, in the dust, its stock should die:

(If a man die, shall he live again?) all the days of my time of toil would I wait, till my change should come:

If thou wouldest but call me, I should obey thee: only despise not the work of thine own hands.

“Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge
And fill himself with the east wind?

“Should he argue with useless talk,
Or with words which are not profitable?

That you should turn your spirit against God
And allow such words to go out of your mouth?

“What is man, that he should be pure,
Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

unto whom only the land was given, that no stranger should come among them.

And he has lived in desolate [God-forsaken] cities,
In houses which no one should inhabit,
Which were destined to become heaps [of ruins];

Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you should answer?

I could speak as ye do also. But would God, that your soul were in my soul's stead: then should I heap up words against you, and shake my head at you.

But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips should assuage your pain.

"O earth, you should not cover my blood, and let there be no place for my cry for help.

Where then would be my hope? And, as for my blessedness, who should see it!

How long will ye make a perversion of words? Ye should understand, and, afterwards, we could speak.

Why should we be regarded as beasts, and considered stupid in your sight?

You who tear yourself in anger—
should the earth be abandoned on your account,
or a rock be removed from its place?

Wherefore should ye persecute me as GOD? and, with my flesh, should not he satisfied?

Surely ye should say - Why should we persecute him? seeing, the root of the matter, is found in me.

“As for me, is my complaint to man?
And why should I not be impatient?

‘Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
And what would we gain if we entreat Him?’

For what pleasure should he have in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?

How then should ye comfort me with vanity, since, as for your replies, there lurketh, in them treachery?

Is it of any special benefit to the Almighty that you should be righteous, or is it any gain to him that you make your ways blameless?

Should such one then as useth violence, wrong and oppression, doing all things of partiality, and having respect of persons, dwell in the land?

Shouldest thou then see no darkness? Should not the water flood run over thee?

wilt thou therefore say, 'Tush, how should God know? Doth his dominion reach beyond the clouds?

There would an upright man reason with him; and I should be delivered for ever from my judge.

And how should man be just with God? Or how should he be clean that is born of a woman?

“Far be it from me that I should declare you right;
Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

Though he should heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay?

He that should have been lost, gave me a good word, and the widow's heart praised me.

"Therefore, I thought verily that I should have died in my nest: and that my days should have been as many as the sands of the sea.

Yea, whereto should the strength of their hands profit me, men in whom vigour hath perished?

I made a covenant with mine eyes; and how should I fix my regard upon a maid?

“For what is the portion I would have from God above,
And what heritage from the Almighty on high?

because something as lascivious as that is an iniquity that should be judged.

yea, a fire that utterly should consume, and root out all my substance.

What then should I do when God riseth up? and if he visited, what should I answer him?

This also would be an iniquity for the judge, for I should have denied the God who is above.

For if I had feared any great multitude of people, or if I had been despised of the simple; Oh then should I have been afraid. Thus have I quietly spent my life, and not gone out at the door.

I thought, experience should speak; abundance of years teaches wisdom.

Lo! I waited for your words, I kept giving ear for your reasons, until ye should search out what to say;

Lest ye should say, We have found out wisdom. GOD, must put him to flight, not man.

Should I continue to wait now that they are silent,
now that they stand there and no longer answer?

“Behold, no fear of me should terrify you,
Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.

"Behold, unto these unreasonable words of thine will I make answer. Should God be reproved of man?

“Why do you complain against Him?
That He does not answer [you with] all His doings.

For when God doth once command a thing, there should no man be curious to search whether it be right.

Should I lie concerning my right?
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

“For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
When he takes delight and is pleased with God and obeys Him.’

Wherefore, ye men of mind, hearken unto me, - Far be it, that, GOD, should be lawless, or, the Almighty, be perverse!