Job 23

Chapter 23

Job Says He Longs for God

¹Then Job ¹replied,

²“Even today my ^acomplaint is rebellion;

¹His hand is ^bheavy despite my groaning.

³“Oh that I knew where I might find Him,

That I might come to His seat!

⁴“I would ^apresent my case before Him

And fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵“I would learn the words which He would ¹answer,

And perceive what He would say to me.

⁶“Would He contend with me by ^athe greatness of His power?

No, surely He would pay attention to me.

⁷“There the upright would ^areason with Him;

And I ¹would be ^bdelivered forever from my Judge.

⁸“Behold, I go forward but He is not there,

And backward, but I ^acannot perceive Him;

⁹When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him;

He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.

¹⁰“But He knows the ¹way I take;

When He has ^atried me, I shall come forth as gold.

¹¹“My foot has ^aheld fast to His path;

I have kept His way and not turned aside.

¹²“I have not departed from the command of His lips;

I have treasured the ^awords of His mouth ¹more than my ²necessary food.

¹³“But He is unique and who can turn Him?

And what His soul desires, that He does.

¹⁴“For He performs what is appointed for me,

And many such decrees are with Him.

¹⁵“Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence;

When I consider, I am terrified of Him.

¹⁶“It is God who has made my ^aheart faint,

And the Almighty who has dismayed me,

¹⁷But I ^aam not silenced by the darkness,

Nor ^bdeep gloom which covers me.