“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

For the thing I feared has overtaken me,
and what I dreaded has happened to me.

If only my request would be granted
and God would provide what I hope for:

What strength do I have that I should continue to hope?
What is my future, that I should be patient?

So this is what you have now become to me.
When you see something dreadful, you are afraid.

Teach me, and I will be silent.
Help me understand what I did wrong.

How painful honest words can be!
But what does your rebuke prove?

What is man, that You think so highly of him
and pay so much attention to him?

If I have sinned, what have I done to You,
Watcher of mankind?
Why have You made me Your target,
so that I have become a burden to You?

Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

For ask the previous generation,
and pay attention to what their fathers discovered,

His source of confidence is fragile;
what he trusts in is a spider’s web.

Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,
but how can a person be justified before God?

If He snatches something, who can stop Him?
Who can ask Him, “What are You doing?”

If I summoned Him and He answered me,
I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said.

They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

Who can produce something pure from what is impure?
No one!

Your iniquity teaches you what to say,
and you choose the language of the crafty.

What do you know that we don’t?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?

What is man, that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

Listen to me and I will inform you.
I will describe what I have seen,

what was declared by wise men
and was not suppressed by their ancestors,

Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray,
for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless.

Is there no end to your empty words?
What provokes you that you continue testifying?

Even if I speak, my suffering is not relieved,
and if I hold back, what have I lost?

Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
A fire unfanned by human hands will consume him;
it will feed on what is left in his tent.

Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
and what will we gain by pleading with Him?”

For what does he care about his family once he is dead,
when the number of his months has run out?

Who would denounce his behavior to his face?
Who would repay him for what he has done?

Yet you say: “What does God know?
Can He judge through thick darkness?

They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!”
and “What can the Almighty do to us?”

“Surely our opponents are destroyed,
and fire has consumed what they left behind.”

I would learn how He would answer me;
and understand what He would say to me.

But He is unchangeable; who can oppose Him?
He does what He desires.

He will certainly accomplish what He has decreed for me,
and He has many more things like these in mind.

For what hope does the godless man have when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?

I will teach you about God’s power.
I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.

He dams up the streams from flowing
so that he may bring to light what is hidden.

What use to me was the strength of their hands?
Their vigor had left them.

For what portion would I have from God above,
or what inheritance from the Almighty on high?

let someone else eat what I have sown,
and let my crops be uprooted.

what could I do when God stands up to judge?
How should I answer Him when He calls me to account?

So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite replied:

I am young in years,
while you are old;
therefore I was timid and afraid
to tell you what I know.

Therefore I say, “Listen to me.
I too will declare what I know.”

I too will answer;
yes, I will tell what I know.

My words come from my upright heart,
and my lips speak with sincerity what they know.

If there is an angel on his side,
one mediator out of a thousand,
to tell a person what is right for him

He will look at men and say,
“I have sinned and perverted what was right;
yet I did not get what I deserved.

Let us judge for ourselves what is right;
let us decide together what is good.

What man is like Job?
He drinks derision like water.

If you have understanding, hear this;
listen to what I have to say.

Teach me what I cannot see;
if I have done wrong, I won’t do it again.”

Should God repay you on your terms
when you have rejected His?
You must choose, not I!
So declare what you know.

For you ask, “What does it profit You,
and what benefit comes to me, if I do not sin?”

If you sin, how does it affect God?
If you multiply your transgressions, what does it do to Him?

If you are righteous, what do you give Him,
or what does He receive from your hand?

God tells them what they have done
and how arrogantly they have transgressed.

Teach us what we should say to Him;
we cannot prepare our case because of our darkness.

What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone

What road leads to the place where light is dispersed?
Where is the source of the east wind that spreads across the earth?