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.

So why did you bring me forth from the womb? I should have passed away, {and no eye should have seen me}.

I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

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

Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man 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.

O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.

Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?

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

Wherefore should I take my flesh in my teeth, And put my life in my hand?

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 warfare would I wait, Till my release 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 utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

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 clean? and he which 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 strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.

"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?

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

As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?

What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto 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 the righteous might dispute with him; so should I 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?

God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine 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, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me? Men in whom ripe age is perished.

I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think 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 were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that 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 said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach 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 thrusteth him down, not man.

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

Look, dread of me should not terrify you, and my hand will not be heavy upon 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 against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression.

For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.

Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.

“If God should determine to do so,
If He should gather to Himself [that is, withdraw from man] His [life-giving] spirit and His breath,

Should he that hateth right indeed govern? and wilt thou condemn the All-just?

For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God.

so that godless human beings should not reign, nor those who ensnare [the] people.

Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.

"When thou speakest, then, should not he pardon thee, if thou open thyself before him, and put thy trust in him?

Thus hath he uncovered their ear to a warning, and said - that they should turn from iniquity.

If they would hearken, and serve, they should complete their days, in prosperity, and their years, in pleasantness;

But, if they would not hearken, by a weapon, should they pass away, and breathe their last, no one knowing.

Yea, the impious in heart, should store up anger, They should not cry for help, when he bound them.

Their soul should die in youth, and their life, among the unclean.

Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness.

Hath God ordained then, that the glorious life of thee, and all such mighty men should not be put down?

Remember that you should extol his work, [of] which people have sung.

That thy garments should be hot when he quieteth the earth from the south?

"Teach us what we should say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of [the] presence of darkness.

Shall it be told him that I would speak? Or should a man wish that he were swallowed up?

Seeing then that everybody feareth him, why should not all wise men also stand in fear of him?"

that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?

You should know! After all, you had been born back then, so the number of your days is great!

"Should the one who is fighting the Almighty find fault with him? Let God's accuser answer."

that the mountains should give him grass, where all the beasts of the field take their pastime.

If the river rages, it is not disturbed, it is secure, though the Jordan should surge up to its mouth.

Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?

Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.

Wherefore have nations assembled in tumult? Or should, peoples, mutter an empty thing?

Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them,

so I may declare everything for which you should be praised in the gates of the daughter of Zion, so I will rejoice in your deliverance.

Wherefore should the wicked blaspheme God, while he doth say in his heart, "Tush, thou God careth not for it?"