Job 23

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz

23Then Job answered:

²Today also my complaint is bitter. ^wx

His ^yhand is heavy despite my groaning.

³If only I knew how to find Him,

so that I could go to His throne.

⁴I would plead my case before Him ^z

and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would learn how ^aHe would answer me;

and understand what He would say to me.

⁶Would He prosecute ^bme forcefully?

No, He will certainly pay attention to me.

⁷Then an upright man could reason ^cwith Him,

and I would escape from my Judge ^dforever.

⁸If I go east, He is not there,

and if I go west, I cannot perceive Him. ^e

⁹When He is at work to the north, I cannot see Him;

when He turns south, I cannot find Him.

¹⁰Yet He knows the way I have taken; ^f

when He has tested me, ^gI will emerge as pure gold.

¹¹My feet have followed in His tracks;

I have kept to His way ^hand not turned aside.

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

I have treasured ⁱthe words ^jof His mouth

more than my daily food.

¹³But He is unchangeable; who can oppose Him?

He does what He desires. ^k

¹⁴He will certainly accomplish what He has decreed for me,

and He has many more things like these in mind. ^l

¹⁵Therefore I am terrified ^min His presence;

when I consider this, I am afraid of Him.

¹⁶God has made my heart faint; ⁿ

the Almighty has terrified me.

¹⁷Yet I am not destroyed ^oby the darkness, ^p

by the thick darkness that covers my face.