23:1 Then Job answered:
23:2 “Even today my complaint is still bitter;
his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
23:3 O that I knew where I might find him,
that I could come to his place of residence!
23:4 I would lay out my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
23:5 I would know with what words he would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
23:6 Would he contend with me with great power?
No, he would only pay attention to me.
23:7 There an upright person
could present his case before him,
and I would be delivered forever from my judge.
23:8 “If I go to the east, he is not there,
and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.
23:9 In the north when he is at work,
I do not see him;
when he turns to the south,
I see no trace of him.
23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take;
if he tested me, I would come forth like gold.
23:11 My feet have followed his steps closely;
I have kept to his way and have not turned aside.
23:12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my allotted portion.
23:13 But he is unchangeable, and who can change him?
Whatever he has desired, he does.
23:14 For he fulfills his decree against me,
and many such things are his plans.
23:15 That is why I am terrified in his presence;
when I consider, I am afraid because of him.
23:16 Indeed, God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.
23:17 Yet I have not been silent because of the darkness,
because of the thick darkness
that covered my face.