1 Then Job answered: 2 “Even today my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning. 3 If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat. 4 I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. 5 I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say. 6 Would He contend with me in His great power? No, He would certainly take note of me. 7 Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge. 8 If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him. 9 When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him. 10 Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 11 My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept His way without turning aside. 12 I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread. 13 But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires. 14 For He carries out His decree against me, and He has many such plans. 15 Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I fear Him. 16 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me. 17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.
Job 23:1–17
Semantically similar passages
Job 11:4–6
4 You have said, ‘My doctrine is sound, and I am pure in Your sight.’ 5 But if only God would speak and open His lips against you, 6 and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity d…
Job 13:14–16
14 Why do I put myself at risk and take my life in my own hands? 15 Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face. 16 Moreover, this will be my salvation, for no godless man can appear before Him.
Job 9:13–15
13 God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him. 14 How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him? 15 For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
Job 13:2–4
2 What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. 3 Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God. 4 You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.
Job 9:34–35
34 Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me. 35 Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.
Job 31:13–15
13 If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me, 14 what will I do when God rises to judge? How will I answer when called to account? 15 Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us…
Job 5:7–9
7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. 8 However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him— 9 the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
Job 31:22–24
22 then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be torn from its socket. 23 For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower. 24 If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
Search the collection All books and codes Translations and sources