Job 23
New Living Translation
Job’s Eighth Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
23 Then Job spoke again:
2 “My complaint today is still a bitter one,
and I try hard not to groan aloud.
3 If only I knew where to find God,
I would go to his court.
4 I would lay out my case
and present my arguments.
5 Then I would listen to his reply
and understand what he says to me.
6 Would he use his great power to argue with me?
No, he would give me a fair hearing.
7 Honest people can reason with him,
so I would be forever acquitted by my judge.
8 I go east, but he is not there.
I go west, but I cannot find him.
9 I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden.
I look to the south, but he is concealed.
10 “But he knows where I am going.
And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.
11 For I have stayed on God’s paths;
I have followed his ways and not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from his commands,
but have treasured his words more than daily food.
13 But once he has made his decision, who can change his mind?
Whatever he wants to do, he does.
14 So he will do to me whatever he has planned.
He controls my destiny.
15 No wonder I am so terrified in his presence.
When I think of it, terror grips me.
16 God has made me sick at heart;
the Almighty has terrified me.
17 Darkness is all around me;
thick, impenetrable darkness is everywhere.
Job 23
Common English Bible
Grant me a trial
23 Job answered:
2 Today my complaint is again bitter;[a]
my strength is weighed down because of my groaning.
3 Oh, that I could know how to find him—
come to his dwelling place;
4 I would lay out my case before him,
fill my mouth with arguments,
5 know the words with which he would answer,
understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me through brute force?
No, he would surely listen to me.
7 There those who do the right thing can argue with him;
I could escape from my judge forever.
God’s hiddenness
8 Look, I go east; he’s not there,
west, and don’t discover him;
9 north in his activity, and I don’t grasp him;
he turns south, and I don’t see.
10 Surely he knows my way;
when he tests me,
I will emerge as gold.
11 My feet have stayed right in his tracks.
I have kept his way and not left it,
12 kept the commandments from his lips and not departed,
valued the words from his mouth more than my food.
Dread
13 He is of one mind; who can reverse it?
What he desires, he does.
14 He carries out what is decreed for me
and can do many similar things with me.
15 Therefore, I am scared by his presence;
I think and become afraid of him.
16 God has weakened my mind;
the Almighty has frightened me.
17 Still I’m not annihilated by darkness;
he has hidden deep darkness from me.
Footnotes
- Job 23:2 Vulg, Syr, Tg; MT my complaint is rebellious.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible