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23 1-2 I still rebel and complain against God;
    I cannot keep from groaning.
How I wish I knew where to find him,
    and knew how to go where he is.
I would state my case before him
    and present all the arguments in my favor.
I want to know what he would say
    and how he would answer me.
Would God use all his strength against me?
    No, he would listen as I spoke.
I am honest; I could reason with God;
    he would declare me innocent[a] once and for all.

I have searched in the East, but God is not there;
    I have not found him when I searched in the West.
God has been at work in the North and the South,
    but still I have not seen him.
10 Yet God knows every step I take;
    if he tests me, he will find me pure.
11 I follow faithfully the road he chooses,
    and never wander to either side.
12 I always do what God commands;
    I follow his will, not my own desires.

13 He never changes. No one can oppose him
    or stop him from doing what he wants to do.
14 He will fulfill what he has planned for me;
    that plan is just one of the many he has;
15     I tremble with fear before him.
16-17 Almighty God has destroyed my courage.
It is God, not the dark, that makes me afraid—
    even though the darkness has made me blind.

Footnotes

  1. Job 23:7 he would declare me innocent; or then my rights would be safe.

Job

23 Then Job replied:

“Even today my complaint(A) is bitter;(B)
    his hand[a] is heavy in spite of[b] my groaning.(C)
If only I knew where to find him;
    if only I could go to his dwelling!(D)
I would state my case(E) before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.(F)
I would find out what he would answer me,(G)
    and consider what he would say to me.
Would he vigorously oppose me?(H)
    No, he would not press charges against me.(I)
There the upright(J) can establish their innocence before him,(K)
    and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.(L)

“But if I go to the east, he is not there;
    if I go to the west, I do not find him.
When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.(M)
10 But he knows the way that I take;(N)
    when he has tested me,(O) I will come forth as gold.(P)
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;(Q)
    I have kept to his way without turning aside.(R)
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;(S)
    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.(T)

13 “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?(U)
    He does whatever he pleases.(V)
14 He carries out his decree against me,
    and many such plans he still has in store.(W)
15 That is why I am terrified before him;(X)
    when I think of all this, I fear him.(Y)
16 God has made my heart faint;(Z)
    the Almighty(AA) has terrified me.(AB)
17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,(AC)
    by the thick darkness that covers my face.

Footnotes

  1. Job 23:2 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew / the hand on me
  2. Job 23:2 Or heavy on me in