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Job Speaks: Where Can I Find God?

23 Then Job replied ⌞to his friends⌟,

“My complaint is bitter again today.
I try hard to control my sighing.

“If only I knew where I could find God!
I would go where he lives.
I would present ⌞my⌟ case to him.
I would have a mouthful of arguments.
I want to know the words he would use to answer me.
I want to understand the things he would say to me.
Would he sue me and hide behind great legal maneuvers?
No, he certainly would press charges against me.
Then decent people could argue with him,
and I would escape my judgment forever.
However, if I go east, he isn’t there.
If I go west, I can’t find him.
If I go northward, where he is at work, I can’t observe him.
If I turn southward, I can’t see him.
10 ⌞I can’t find him⌟ because he knows the road I take.
When he tests me,
I’ll come out as pure as gold.
11 I have followed his footsteps closely.
I have stayed on his path and did not turn from it.
12 I have not left his commands behind.
I have treasured his words in my heart.

God Is Against Me

13 “But God is one of a kind.
Who can make him change his mind?
He does whatever he wants!
14 He will carry out ⌞his⌟ orders concerning me
as he does with so many other things.
15 That is why I’m terrified of him.
When I think of it, I’m afraid of him.
16 God has discouraged me.
The Almighty has filled me with terror.
17 But I am not silenced by the dark
or by the thick darkness that covers my face.

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