1 Then Job answered and said,
2 "Even today my complaint [is] bitter; my hand is heavy in addition to my groaning.
3 {O that} I knew and [that] I might find him; [O that] I might come to his dwelling.
4 I would lay [my] case {before him}, and I would fill my mouth [with] arguments
5 I want to know [the] words [with which] he would answer me, and I want to understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in [the] greatness of [his] strength? No, but he himself would give heed to me.
7 There an upright person could reason with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 "When I go forward, {he is not there}, or backward, I cannot see him.
9 {When he works} [on the] left, {I cannot perceive} [him]; he turns to [the] right, but I cannot see [him].
10 But he knows {the way that I take}; he tests me--I shall come out like gold.
11 My foot has held on to his steps; I have kept his way, and I have not turned aside.
12 [From] the commandment of his lips, indeed I have not departed; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily food.
13 "But he [is] {alone}, and who can dissuade him? And {whatever he desires}, {indeed}, he does [it].
14 For he will carry out {what he appoints for me}, and many [things] like these [are] with him
15 Therefore, I am horrified because of his presence; [when] I consider, I tremble because of him.
16 Indeed, God has made my heart faint, and Shaddai has terrified me.
17 Indeed, I have not been silenced {because of darkness}, and because of me he conceals thick darkness.