Job 23-24

New International Version

² “Even today my complaint^(A) is bitter;^(B)
    his hand^[a] is heavy in spite of^[b] my groaning.^(C)
3 If only I knew where to find him;
    if only I could go to his dwelling!^(D)
4 I would state my case^(E) before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.^(F)
5 I would find out what he would answer me,^(G)
    and consider what he would say to me.
⁶ Would he vigorously oppose me?^(H)
    No, he would not press charges against me.^(I)
7 There the upright^(J) can establish their innocence before him,^(K)
    and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.^(L)

⁸ “But if I go to the east, he is not there;
    if I go to the west, I do not find him.
⁹ When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.^(M)
10 But he knows the way that I take;^(N)
    when he has tested me,^(O) I will come forth as gold.^(P)
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;^(Q)
    I have kept to his way without turning aside.^(R)
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;^(S)
    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.^(T)

¹³ “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?^(U)
    He does whatever he pleases.^(V)
14 He carries out his decree against me,
    and many such plans he still has in store.^(W)
15 That is why I am terrified before him;^(X)
    when I think of all this, I fear him.^(Y)
16 God has made my heart faint;^(Z)
    the Almighty^(AA) has terrified me.^(AB)
17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,^(AC)
    by the thick darkness that covers my face.

24 “Why does the Almighty not set times^(AD) for judgment?^(AE)
    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?^(AF)
2 There are those who move boundary stones;^(AG)
    they pasture flocks they have stolen.^(AH)
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox in pledge.^(AI)
4 They thrust the needy^(AJ) from the path
    and force all the poor^(AK) of the land into hiding.^(AL)
5 Like wild donkeys^(AM) in the desert,
    the poor go about their labor^(AN) of foraging food;
    the wasteland^(AO) provides food for their children.
⁶ They gather fodder^(AP) in the fields
    and glean in the vineyards^(AQ) of the wicked.^(AR)
7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.^(AS)
8 They are drenched^(AT) by mountain rains
    and hug^(AU) the rocks for lack of shelter.^(AV)
9 The fatherless^(AW) child is snatched^(AX) from the breast;
    the infant of the poor is seized^(AY) for a debt.^(AZ)
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;^(BA)
    they carry the sheaves,^(BB) but still go hungry.
¹¹ They crush olives among the terraces^[c];
    they tread the winepresses,^(BC) yet suffer thirst.^(BD)
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.^(BE)
    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.^(BF)

¹³ “There are those who rebel against the light,^(BG)
    who do not know its ways
    or stay in its paths.^(BH)
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
    kills^(BI) the poor and needy,^(BJ)
    and in the night steals forth like a thief.^(BK)
15 The eye of the adulterer^(BL) watches for dusk;^(BM)
    he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’^(BN)
    and he keeps his face concealed.
¹⁶ In the dark, thieves break into houses,^(BO)
    but by day they shut themselves in;
    they want nothing to do with the light.^(BP)
17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;
    they make friends with the terrors^(BQ) of darkness.^(BR)

¹⁸ “Yet they are foam^(BS) on the surface of the water;^(BT)
    their portion of the land is cursed,^(BU)
    so that no one goes to the vineyards.^(BV)
19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,^(BW)
    so the grave^(BX) snatches away those who have sinned.
²⁰ The womb forgets them,
    the worm^(BY) feasts on them;^(BZ)
the wicked are no longer remembered^(CA)
    but are broken like a tree.^(CB)
21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,
    and to the widow they show no kindness.^(CC)
22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;^(CD)
    though they become established,^(CE) they have no assurance of life.^(CF)
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,^(CG)
    but his eyes^(CH) are on their ways.^(CI)
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;^(CJ)
    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;^(CK)
    they are cut off like heads of grain.^(CL)

²⁵ “If this is not so, who can prove me false
    and reduce my words to nothing?”^(CM)