Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
1Then Job answered: | 1Then Job spoke again: |
2Today also my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning. | 2“My complaint today is still a bitter one, and I try hard not to groan aloud. |
3If only I knew how to find him, so that I could go to his throne. | 3If only I knew where to find God, I would go to his court. |
4I would plead my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. | 4I would lay out my case and present my arguments. |
5I would learn how he would answer me; and understand what he would say to me. | 5Then I would listen to his reply and understand what he says to me. |
6Would he prosecute me forcefully? No, he would certainly pay attention to me. | 6Would he use his great power to argue with me? No, he would give me a fair hearing. |
7Then an upright man could reason with him, and I would escape from my Judge forever. | 7Honest people can reason with him, so I would be forever acquitted by my judge. |
8If I go east, he is not there, and if I go west, I cannot perceive him. | 8I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. |
9When he is at work to the north, I cannot see him; when he turns south, I cannot find him. | 9I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed. |
10Yet he knows the way I have taken; when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold. | 10“But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. |
11My feet have followed in his tracks; I have kept to his way and not turned aside. | 11For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. |
12I have not departed from the commands from his lips; I have treasured the words from his mouth more than my daily food. | 12I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food. |
13But he is unchangeable; who can oppose him? He does what he desires. | 13But once he has made his decision, who can change his mind? Whatever he wants to do, he does. |
14He will certainly accomplish what he has decreed for me, and he has many more things like these in mind. | 14So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny. |
15Therefore I am terrified in his presence; when I consider this, I am afraid of him. | 15No wonder I am so terrified in his presence. When I think of it, terror grips me. |
16God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me. | 16God has made me sick at heart; the Almighty has terrified me. |
17Yet I am not destroyed by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face. | 17Darkness is all around me; thick, impenetrable darkness is everywhere. |
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | 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. |
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