Job 23 (New American Standard Bible)

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Job 23

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Job Says He Longs for God

23 Then Job ^[a]replied,

²“Even today my complaint is rebellion;
^[b]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 ^[c]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 ^[d]would be delivered forever from my Judge.

⁸“Behold, I go forward but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
⁹When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him;
He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.
¹⁰“But He knows the ^[e]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 ^[f]more than my ^[g]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,
¹⁷But I am not silenced by the darkness,
Nor deep gloom which covers me.