Job 23

Job

¹Then Job replied:

²“Even today my complaint is bitter;

his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.

³If only I knew where to find him;

if only I could go to his dwelling!

⁴I would state my case before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would find out what he would answer me,

and consider what he would say to me.

⁶Would he vigorously oppose me?

No, he would not press charges against me.

⁷There the upright can establish their innocence before him,

and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.

⁸“But if I go to the east, he is not there;

if I go to the west, I do not find him.

⁹When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;

when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

¹⁰But he knows the way that I take;

when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

¹¹My feet have closely followed his steps;

I have kept to his way without turning aside.

¹²I have not departed from the commands of his lips;

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

¹³“But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?

He does whatever he pleases.

¹⁴He carries out his decree against me,

and many such plans he still has in store.

¹⁵That is why I am terrified before him;

when I think of all this, I fear him.

¹⁶God has made my heart faint;

the Almighty has terrified me.

¹⁷Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,

by the thick darkness that covers my face.