But he said to her, “You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God’s will]. Shall we indeed accept [only] good from God and not [also] accept adversity and disaster?” In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.

“Behold this; we have investigated it, and it is true.
Hear and heed it, and know for yourself [for your own good].”

“What strength do I have left, that I should wait [and hope]?
And what is ahead of me, that I should be patient and endure?

“How painful are words of honesty.
But what does your argument prove?

“Is there injustice or malice on my tongue?
Can my palate not discern what is destructive?

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

“If I have sinned, what [harm] have I done to You,
O Watcher of mankind?
Why have You set me as a target for You,
So that I am a burden to myself?

“Behold, He snatches away; who can restrain or turn Him back?
Who will say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

“His wisdom is as high as the heights of heaven. What can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead). What can you know?

“What you know I also know;
I am not inferior to you.

“But I wish to speak to the Almighty,
And I desire to argue with God.

“Be silent before me so that I may speak;
And let happen to me what may.

“What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not equally clear to us?

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

What wise men have [freely] told,
And have not hidden [anything passed on to them] from their fathers,

“Is there no end to [your futile] words of wind?
Or what plagues you [so much] that you [so boldly] answer [me like this]?

“If I speak [to you miserable comforters], my pain is not relieved;
And if I refrain [from speaking], what [pain or anguish] leaves me?

Complete darkness (misfortune) is held in reserve for his treasures.
An unfanned fire will devour him;
It will consume the survivor in his tent.

‘Who [and what] is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And what would we gain if we plead with Him?’

“For what pleasure does he have in his house and family after he is dead,
When the number of his months [of life] is cut off?

“But who will confront him with his actions and rebuke him face to face,
And who will repay him for what he has done?

“You say, ‘What does God know [about me]?
Can He judge through the thick darkness?

“They said to God, ‘Depart from us!
What can the Almighty do for us or to us?’

“I would learn the words which He would answer,
And understand what He would say to me.

“But He is unique and unchangeable, and who can turn Him?
And what His soul desires, that He does.

“To whom have you uttered [these] words?
And whose spirit [inspired what] came forth from you?

“For what is the hope of the godless, even though he has gained [in this world],
When God takes his life?

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

What then could I do when God arises [to judge me]?
When He calls me to account, what will I answer Him?

“If I have withheld from the poor what they desired,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to look in vain [for relief],

“You see, I waited for your words,
I listened to your [wise] reasons,
While you pondered and searched out what to say.

“I even paid close attention to [what] you [said],
Indeed, not one of you convinced Job [nor could you refute him],
Not one of you supplied [satisfactory] answers to his words.

“However, Job, please listen to my words,
And pay attention to everything I say.

“My words will express the uprightness of my heart,
And my lips will speak what they know with utter sincerity.

“If there is an angel as a mediator for him,
One out of a thousand,
To explain to a man what is right for him [that is, how to be in right standing with God],

“Let us choose for ourselves that which is right;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.

“What man is like Job,
Who drinks up derision like water,

Teach me what I do not see [in regard to how I have sinned];
If I have done wrong (injustice, unrighteousness),
I will not do it again’?

“Shall God’s retribution [for your sins] be on your terms, because you refuse to accept it?
For you must do the choosing, and not I;
Therefore say what you [truthfully] know.

“For you say, ‘What advantage have you [by living a righteous life]?
What profit will I have, more [by being righteous] than if I had sinned?’

“If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him?
And if your transgressions are multiplied, what have you done to Him?

“If you are righteous, what do you give God,
Or what does He receive from your hand?

“Tell us [Job] what words [of man] shall we say to such a Being;
We cannot state our case because of darkness [that is, our ignorance in the presence of the unsearchable God].

“On what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,

“Where is the way that the light is distributed,
Or the east wind scattered over the earth?

“Behold, I am of little importance and contemptible; what can I reply to You?
I lay my hand on my mouth.

“[You said to me] ‘Who is this that darkens and obscures counsel [by words] without knowledge?’
Therefore [I now see] I have [rashly] uttered that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

‘Hear, please, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You instruct [and answer] me.’