1Then Job answered:
2Today also my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3If only I knew how to find Him, so that I could go to His throne.
4I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.
5I would learn how He would answer me; and understand what He would say to me.
6Would He prosecute me forcefully? No, He will certainly pay attention to me.
7There an upright man could reason with Him, and I would escape from my Judge forever.
8If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot perceive Him.
9When He is at work to the north, I cannot see Him; when He turns south, I cannot find Him.
10Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold.
11My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept to His way and not turned aside.
12I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily food.
13But He is unchangeable; who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.
14He will certainly accomplish what He has decreed for me, and He has many more things like these in mind.
15Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider [this], I am afraid of Him.
16God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.
17Yet I am not destroyed by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.