Job 23

Job Longs for God

¹ Then Job answered:

² “Even today my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning.

³ If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.

⁴ I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵ I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say.

⁶ Would He contend with me in His great power? No, He would certainly take note of me.

⁷ Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

⁸ If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him.

⁹ When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him.

¹⁰ Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

¹¹ My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept His way without turning aside.

¹² I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.

¹³ But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.

¹⁴ For He carries out His decree against me, and He has many such plans.

¹⁵ Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I fear Him.

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

¹⁷ Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.