| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Then Job answered and said, | 1Then Job answered: |
| 2Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. | 2Today also my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning. |
| 3Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! | 3If only I knew how to find Him, so that I could go to His throne. |
| 4I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. | 4I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. |
| 5I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. | 5I would learn how He would answer me; and understand what He would say to me. |
| 6Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me. | 6Would He prosecute me forcefully? No, He will certainly pay attention to me. |
| 7There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge. | 7Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would escape from my Judge forever. |
| 8Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: | 8If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot perceive Him. |
| 9On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: | 9When He is at work to the north, I cannot see Him; when He turns south, I cannot find Him. |
| 10But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. | 10Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold. |
| 11My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. | 11My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept to His way and not turned aside. |
| 12Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. | 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 in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. | 13But He is unchangeable; who can oppose Him? He does what He desires. |
| 14For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him. | 14He will certainly accomplish what He has decreed for me, and He has many more things like these in mind. |
| 15Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him. | 15Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I am afraid of Him. |
| 16For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me: | 16God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me. |
| 17Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face. | 17Yet I am not destroyed by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face. |
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