Job 23
23
Job Says He Longs for God
1Then Job answered and said,
2“Even today my complaint is contentious;
His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3“Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might [even] come to His seat!
4“I would present my cause before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.
5“I would learn the words which He would answer,
And understand what He would say to me.
6“Would He contend against me with His great power?
No, surely He would give attention to me. [Is 27:4, 5; 57:16]
7“There the righteous and upright could reason with Him;
So I would be acquitted forever by my Judge.
8¶“Behold, I go forward (to the east), but He is not there;
I go backward (to the west), but I cannot perceive Him;
9To the left (north) He turns, but I cannot behold Him;
He turns to the right hand (south), but I cannot see Him.
10“But He knows the way that I take [and He pays attention to it].
When He has tried me, I will come forth as [refined] gold [pure and luminous]. [Ps 17:3; 66:10; James 1:12]
11“My feet have carefully followed His steps;
I have kept His ways and not turned aside.
12“I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have kept the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
13“But He is unique and unchangeable, and who can turn Him?
And what His soul desires, that He does.
14“For He performs what is planned (appointed) for me,
And He is mindful of many such things.
15“Therefore I would be terrified at His presence;
When I consider [all of this], I tremble in dread of Him.
16“For God has made my heart faint,
And the Almighty has terrified me,
17But I am not silenced by the darkness [of these woes that fell on me],
Nor by the thick darkness which covers my face.
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Job 23: AMP
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Job 23
23
1Job replied, 2“Just the same, my complaints today remain bitter. In spite of my groaning he is still punishing me.#23:2. Literally, “his hand is heavy on me.” 3If only I knew where I could find him so I could go to where he sits in judgment. 4There I would lay out my case before him and present all my arguments in full. 5I would discover how he would answer me and learn what he has to say to me. 6Would he fight against me using his mighty power? No, he would pay attention to what I have to say. 7There a good#23:7. Or “upright.” person could reason with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge. 8If I go to the east, he's not there; if I go the west, I don't find him. 9If he's working in the north, I don't perceive him; if he's moving south, I don't see him.
10Yet he always knows where I'm going. When he has proved me, I will come out shining like gold.#23:10. The image here is of testing gold in a crucible: once the impurities are burned away, the liquid gold has a brilliant surface. 11I have kept in step with him; I have followed his way without turning aside. 12I have not neglected his commands, for I value what he has told me to do more than the food I eat every day.
13But God is unchangeable—who can turn him from his purposes? He does whatever he wants to do. 14So he will finish whatever he has planned for me—and he has many plans for me. 15That's why I'm terrified at meeting him;#23:15. Literally, “his presence.” when I think of him I tremble with fear. 16God has made me faint-hearted; the Almighty has scared me to death. 17Yet I'm still here despite the dark—even though I can't see through the utter darkness.”#23:17. The Hebrew here is difficult: “Because I am not cut off by reason of darkness and from my face which thick darkness covers.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com