Job 23

¹ Then Job answered and said:

² Even today my complaint is bitter;
his hand is heavy despite my groaning.

³ Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come to his seat!

⁴ I would lay my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵ I would learn what he would answer me
and understand what he would say to me.

⁶ Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No — he would pay attention to me.

⁷ There an upright man could argue with him,
and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

⁸ If I go forward, he is not there;
and backward, but I cannot perceive him;

⁹ on the left hand when he is working, I cannot behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I cannot see him.

¹⁰ But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I shall come out as gold.

¹¹ My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.

¹² I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

¹³ But he is unchangeable; who can turn him back?
What he desires, that he does.

¹⁴ For he will complete what he has appointed for me,
and many such things are in his mind.

¹⁵ Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.

¹⁶ God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.

¹⁷ Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,
nor by the thick darkness that covers my face.