GodsWord - Job - 23

23:1  Then Job replied to his friends,

23:2  "My complaint is bitter again today. I try hard to control my sighing.

23:3  "If only I knew where I could find God! I would go where he lives.

23:4  I would present my case to him. I would have a mouthful of arguments.

23:5  I want to know the words he would use to answer me. I want to understand the things he would say to me.

23:6  Would he sue me and hide behind great legal maneuvers? No, he certainly would press charges against me.

23:7  Then decent people could argue with him, and I would escape my judgment forever.

23:8  However, if I go east, he isn't there. If I go west, I can't find him.

23:9  If I go northward, where he is at work, I can't observe him. If I turn southward, I can't see him.

23:10  I can't find him because he knows the road I take. When he tests me, I'll come out as pure as gold.

23:11  I have followed his footsteps closely. I have stayed on his path and did not turn from it.

23:12  I have not left his commands behind. I have treasured his words in my heart.

23:13  "But God is one of a kind. Who can make him change his mind? He does whatever he wants!

23:14  He will carry out his orders concerning me as he does with so many other things.

23:15  That is why I'm terrified of him. When I think of it, I'm afraid of him.

23:16  God has discouraged me. The Almighty has filled me with terror.

23:17  But I am not silenced by the dark or by the thick darkness that covers my face.