Job 23

Then Job spoke out saying:

   Though today my complaint is defiant,

      God’s hand upon me is heavier than my groaning.

 

O that I knew where I might find Him,

   That I might come even to His dwelling,

I would present my case before Him,

   My mouth full of arguments.

I would find out what He would answer me,

  And grasp what He would say to me.

 

Would He simply overwhelm me with His great power?

   No, He would surely pay heed to me.

There an upright person would argue before Him,

   And I would be acquitted by my judge forever.

 

Behold, I go forward to the East and He is not there,

   Back to the West and I cannot perceive Him,

Left to the North, concealed I do not see Him,

   Right to the South, Hidden I cannot see Him.

 

For surely, He knows my ways,

   Would He assay me, I would emerge pure as gold.

I have followed closely in His tracks,

   Keeping His way without swerving,

Never departing from the commands of His lips,

   As my law, treasuring the words of His mouth.

 

Yet as He determines, who can dissuade Him?

   What He desires, that He does.

Surely, He will complete what He has allotted for me,

   Much more of the same is at His disposal.

That is why I am dismayed by His mien (bearing and demeanor),

   When I consider all this, I am in dread of Him.

For God has made my heart weak,

   Shaddai has dismayed me.

 

Yet I am not silenced by darkness,

   With all encompassing gloom before my face.

 

Job 245