[1] Then Job replied to his friends, [2] "My complaint is bitter again today. I try hard to control my sighing. [3] "If only I knew where I could find God! I would go where he lives. [4] I would present my case to him. I would have a mouthful of arguments. [5] I want to know the words he would use to answer me. I want to understand the things he would say to me. [6] Would he sue me and hide behind great legal maneuvers? No, he certainly would press charges against me. [7] Then decent people could argue with him, and I would escape my judgment forever. [8] However, if I go east, he isn't there. If I go west, I can't find him. [9] If I go northward, where he is at work, I can't observe him. If I turn southward, I can't see him. [10] I can't find him because he knows the road I take. When he tests me, I'll come out as pure as gold. [11] I have followed his footsteps closely. I have stayed on his path and did not turn from it. [12] I have not left his commands behind. I have treasured his words in my heart. [13] "But God is one of a kind. Who can make him change his mind? He does whatever he wants! [14] He will carry out his orders concerning me as he does with so many other things. [15] That is why I'm terrified of him. When I think of it, I'm afraid of him. [16] God has discouraged me. The Almighty has filled me with terror. [17] But I am not silenced by the dark or by the thick darkness that covers my face.
