1Then Job answered and said,
2"Even today my complaint is bitter. The blow that struck me is heavier than my groaning."
3"If only I knew where to find him! Then I could come right up to where he sits."
4"I would set out my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments."
5"I would learn the words he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me."
6"Would he use his great power against me in the argument? No. He would give me strength instead."
7"There the righteous could argue with him. So I would be set free for ever from my judge."
8"Look, I go forward, but he is not there; I go backward, but I cannot find him."
9"I turn to the left, where he is at work, but I cannot see him. He hides himself on the right, so that I cannot see him."
10"But he knows the way that I take. When he has tested me, I will come out like gold."
11"My foot has kept to his steps. I have kept to his way and not turned aside."
12"I have not gone back from the command of his lips. I have valued the words of his mouth more than the food I need."
13"But he is of one mind, and who can turn him? Whatever he wants, that is what he does."
14"For he carries out the thing that is appointed for me, and he has many such things in store."
15"So I am troubled when he is near. When I think about it, I am afraid of him."
16"For God has made my heart faint, and the Almighty has troubled me,"
17"because I was not cut off before the darkness came, and he has not hidden the darkness from my face."