Job 23

¹And Job answereth and saith:— ²Also—to-day is my complaint bitter, My hand hath been heavy because of my sighing. ³O that I had known—and I find Him, I come in unto His seat, ⁴I arrange before Him the cause, And my mouth fill with arguments. ⁵I know the words He doth answer me, And understand what He saith to me. ⁶In the abundance of power doth He strive with me? No! surely He putteth it in me. ⁷There the upright doth reason with Him, And I escape for ever from my judge.

⁸Lo, forward I go—and He is not, And backward—and I perceive him not. ⁹To the left in His working—and I see not, He is covered on the right, and I behold not. ¹⁰For He hath known the way with me, He hath tried me—as gold I go forth. ¹¹On His step hath my foot laid hold, His way I have kept, and turn not aside, ¹²The command of His lips, and I depart not. Above my allotted portion I have laid up The sayings of His mouth.

¹³And He is in one mind, And who doth turn Him back? And His soul hath desired—and He doth it. ¹⁴For He doth complete my portion, And many such things are with Him. ¹⁵Therefore, from His presence I am troubled, I consider, and am afraid of Him. ¹⁶And God hath made my heart soft, And the Mighty hath troubled me. ¹⁷For I have not been cut off before darkness, And before me He covered thick darkness.

Chapter 24