[1] Job confided to his friends. [2] Job: So once again you are telling me my complaint amounts to rebellion, that the heavy hand I feel upon me is smothering my groans? [3] Would that I knew where to find Him. I would appear before Him. [4] I would lay my case out before Him; I would fill up my mouth with arguments. [5] And then I would finally learn how He would answer me, and I would understand what He tells me. [6] Would He oppose me merely with His great power? Surely not! Surely He would show me the respect of listening to my argument. [7] There, in that courtroom, a moral man might hope to reason with Him, and I would escape my Judge forever. [8] Alas, wherever I go, ahead or behind, He is not there; I am unable to find Him. [9] When He works on either side of me, I still cannot see Him. I catch no glimpse of Him. [10] But He knows the course I have traveled. And I believe that were He to prove me, I would come out purer than gold from the fire. [11] My foot has been securely set in His tracks; I have kept to His course of life without swerving; [12] I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have valued everything He says more than all else. [13] He alone is one True God; who can alter Him? Whatever He desires within Himself, He does. [14] For He will carry out exactly what He has planned for me, and in the future there are more plans to come. [15] Therefore, I am deeply troubled before Him; when I ponder it at any length, I am terrified of Him. [16] Yes, God has melted my courage, and the Highest One has overwhelmed me with His terror. [17] He could have turned me aside when the darkness came, but He did not cut me off. Nor does He hide my face from the gloom that has now overtaken me.
