Job 23  New Century Version

² “My complaint is still bitter today.
    I groan because God’s heavy hand is on me.
³ I wish I knew where to find God
    so I could go to where he lives.
⁴ I would present my case before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.
⁵ I would learn how he would answer me
    and would think about what he would say.
⁶ Would he not argue strongly against me?
    No, he would really listen to me.
⁷ Then an honest person could present his case to God,
    and I would be saved forever by my judge.

⁸ “If I go to the east, God is not there;
    if I go to the west, I do not see him.
⁹ When he is at work in the north, I catch no sight of him;
    when he turns to the south, I cannot see him.
¹⁰ But God knows the way that I take,
    and when he has tested me, I will come out like gold.
¹¹ My feet have closely followed his steps;
    I have stayed in his way;
    I did not turn aside.
¹² I have never left the commands he has spoken;
    I have treasured his words more than my own.

¹³ “But he is the only God.
    Who can come against him?
    He does anything he wants.
¹⁴ He will do to me what he said he would do,
    and he has many plans like this.
¹⁵ That is why I am frightened of him;
    when I think of this, I am afraid of him.
¹⁶ God has made me afraid;
    the Almighty terrifies me.
¹⁷ But I am not hidden by the darkness,
    by the thick darkness that covers my face.