Job 23:1-17

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz

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.

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 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.