^1. THEN Job [1] replied,

^2. «Even today my complaint is rebellion; [2] His hand is heavy despite my groaning.

^3. «Oh that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat!

^4. «I would present my case before Him And fill my mouth with arguments.

^5. «I would learn the words which He would [3] answer, And perceive what He would say to me.

^6. «Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power? No, surely He would pay attention to me.

^7. «There the upright would reason with Him; And I [4] would be delivered forever from my Judge.

^8. «Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

^9. When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.

^10. «But He knows the [5] way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

^11. «My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside.

^12. «I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth [7] more than my [6] necessary food.

^13. «But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does.

^14. «For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such decrees are with Him.

^15. «Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence; When I consider, I am terrified of Him.

^16. «It is God who has made my heart faint, And the Almighty who has dismayed me,

^17. But I am not silenced by the darkness, Nor deep gloom which covers me.