Job 23

23 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 I could come to his dwelling! ⁴ I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. ⁵ I would learn the words he would answer me and understand what he would say to me. ⁶ Would he argue with me in the greatness of his power? No — he would surely give me a hearing. ⁷ There an upright person could reason with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge. ⁸ But if I go east, he is not there; and to the west I cannot find him. ⁹ When he works in the north, I cannot see him; when he turns to the south, I cannot find him. ¹⁰ But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come out as gold. ¹¹ My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and not turned 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 — who can turn him back? Whatever he desires, he does. ¹⁴ For he will carry out what he has appointed for me, and many such things are in his mind. ¹⁵ That is why I am terrified before him; when I consider it, 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, by the thick gloom that covers my face.