Job 23
Job’s Reply to Eliphaz1
23:2 “Even today my complaint is still bitter;2
his3 hand is heavy despite4 my groaning.
23:3 O that I knew5 where I might find him,6
that I could come7 to his place of residence!8
23:4 I would lay out my case9 before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
23:5 I would know with what words10 he would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
23:6 Would he contend11 with me with great power?
No, he would only pay attention to me.12
23:7 There13 an upright person
could present his case14 before him,
and I would be delivered forever from my judge.
The Inaccessibility and Power of God
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 north15 when he is at work,16
I do not see him;17
when he turns18 to the south,
I see no trace of him.
23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take;19
if he tested me, I would come forth like gold.20
23:11 My feet21 have followed22 his steps closely;
I have kept to his way and have not turned aside.23
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.24
23:13 But he is unchangeable,25 and who can change26 him?
Whatever he27 has desired, he does.
23:14 For he fulfills his decree against me,28
and many such things are his plans.29
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;30
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.31