1 And Job answered and said,

2 Even today [is] my complaint bitter; my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

3 Oh that I knew [where] I might find Him, [that] I might come even to His seat!

4 I would order [my] cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would know the words [which] He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me.

6 Will He plead against me with [His] great power? No, surely He would give heed to me.

7 There the righteous might 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 see Him;

9 on the left hand, where He works, but I cannot behold Him. He turns to the right, but I do not see [Him].

10 But He knows the way that I take; [when] He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

11 My foot has held fast in His steps; I have kept His way, and have not fallen away;

12 nor have I gone back from the commandment of His lips; I treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion.

13 But He [is] in one [mind], and who can turn Him? Yea, what His soul desires, He does [it].

14 For He fulfilled my lot, and many [things] like these are with Him.

15 Therefore I am troubled at His presence; when I look, I am afraid of Him.

16 For God makes my heart soft, and the Almighty troubles me;

17 because I was not cut off before the darkness; yea, He covered the darkness from my face.