Job 23

Where Is God?

1 Then Job answered and said,

2 “Even today my musing is rebellion;
^{▼▼ As in Gr and Syr; M.T. My}His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 “Oh that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might come to His seat!
4 “I would arrange my case for justice before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.
5 “I would know the words which He would ^{▼▼Lit answer me}answer,
And discern what He would say to me.
6 “Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power?
No, surely He would pay attention to me.
7 “There the upright would argue with Him;
And I ^{▼▼Or bring forth my justice forever}would have escaped forever from my Judge.
8 “Behold, I go forward but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot discern Him;
9 When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him;
He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.
10 “But He knows the ^{▼▼Lit way with me}way I take;
When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 “My foot has held 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 words of His mouth ^{▼▼Some versions in my breast}more than my ^{▼▼Lit statute}portion of 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 apportioned for me,
And many such decrees are with Him.
15 “Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence;
I carefully consider, and I am in dread of Him.
16 “It is God who has made my heart faint,
And the Almighty who has dismayed me,
17 But I am not silenced by the darkness,
Nor thick darkness which covers me.