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.

“For now I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then, I would have been at rest [in death],

“As for me, I would seek God and inquire of Him,
And I would commit my cause to God;

“For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
Therefore my words have been incoherent,

“Oh that my request would come to pass,
And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

“I wish that it would please God to crush me,
That He would let loose His hand and cut me off.

“Then I would still have consolation,
And I would jump for joy amid unsparing pain,
That I have not denied or hidden the words of the Holy One.

“You would cast lots (gamble) over the fatherless
And bargain away your friend.

“Now please look at me,
And see if I lie to your face [for you know that I would not].

So that I would choose suffocation,
Death rather than my pain.

“I waste away and loathe my life; I will not live forever.
Let me alone, for my days are but a breath [futile and without substance].

“Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your end will greatly increase.

“If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

“Though I am innocent and in the right, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty;
Though I am blameless, He would denounce me as guilty.

“There is no arbitrator between us,
Who could lay his hand upon us both [would that there were].

“Then I would speak [my defense] and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself.

‘Your hands have formed and made me altogether.
Would You [turn around and] destroy me?

‘Why then did You bring me out of the womb?
Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me!

“But oh, that God would speak,
And open His lips [to speak] against you,

And [that He would] show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom has two sides.
Know therefore that God forgets a part of your wickedness and guilt.

“Oh, that you would be completely silent,
And that silence would be your wisdom!

“Will it be well for you when He investigates you [and your tactics against me]?
Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?

“Who will argue and contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.

“Oh, that You would hide me in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would set a definite time and then remember me [and in Your lovingkindness imprint me on your heart]!

“[Then] You will call, and I will answer You;
You will long for [me] the work of Your hands.

“[But instead] I could strengthen and encourage you with [the words of] my mouth,
And the consolation and solace of my lips would soothe your suffering and lessen your anguish.

“Oh, that a man would mediate and plead with God [for me]
Just as a man [mediates and pleads] with his neighbor and friend.

“And if it were true that I have erred,
My error would remain with me [and I would be conscious of it].

“Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the plots by which you would wrong me.

“I would present my cause before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.

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

“Would He contend against me with His great power?
No, surely He would give attention to me.

“He wraps the waters in His clouds [which otherwise would spill on earth all at once],
And the cloud does not burst under them.

“For it is a fire which consumes to Abaddon (destruction, ruin, final torment);
And [illicit passion] would burn and rage and uproot all my [life’s] increase [destroying everything].

If I have lifted my hand against the orphan,
Because I saw [that the judges would be] my help at the [council] gate,

This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.

“Surely I would [proudly] bear it on my shoulder,
And bind the scroll around my head like a crown.

“I would count out to Him the number of my steps [with every detail of my life],
Approaching His presence as if I were a prince.

“For I do not know how to flatter, [in an appropriate way, and I fear that],
My Maker would soon take me away.

Although I am right, I am accounted a liar.
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

All flesh would perish together,
And man would return to dust.

Because they turned aside from following Him
And would not consider or show regard for any of His ways,

‘Job ought to be tried to the limit
Because he answers like wicked men!

“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress and confinement,
Into a broad place where there is no constraint or distress;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness (rich food).

“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Let him who disputes with God answer it.”

“Behind him he makes a shining wake;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired [with foam].