[1] Then Job answered: [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.
