Job Says He Longs for God

      1 Then Job replied,

2 “Even today my complaint is rebellion;
          His hand is heavy despite my groaning.

3 “Oh that I knew where I might find Him,
          That I might come to His seat!

4 “I would present my case before Him
          And fill my mouth with arguments.

5 “I would learn the words which He would answer,
          And perceive what He would say to me.

6 “Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power?
          No, surely He would pay attention to me.

7 “There the upright would reason with Him;
          And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

8 “Behold, I go forward but He is not there,
          And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

9 When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him;
          He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.

10 “But He knows the way I take;
          When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

11 “My foot has held fast to His path;
          I have kept His way and not turned aside.

12 “I have not departed from the command of His lips;
          I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

13 “But He is unique and who can turn Him?
          And what His soul desires, that He does.

14 “For He performs what is appointed for me,
          And many such decrees are with Him.

15 “Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence;
          When I consider, I am terrified of Him.

16 “It is God who has made my heart faint,
          And the Almighty who has dismayed me,

17 But I am not silenced by the darkness,
          Nor deep gloom which covers me.