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Job 23 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Job Says He Longs for God

23 Then Job responded,

²“Even today my ^(A)complaint is rebellion;
^[a]His hand is ^(B)heavy despite my groaning.
³Oh that I knew how to find Him,
That I might come to His home!
⁴I would ^(C)present my case before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.
⁵I would learn the words which He would ^[b]answer,
And perceive what He would tell me.
⁶Would He contend with me by ^(D)the greatness of His power?
No, surely He would pay attention to me.
⁷There the upright would ^(E)argue with Him;
And I ^[c]would be ^(F)free of my Judge forever.

⁸“Behold, I go forward but He is not there,
And backward, but I ^(G)cannot perceive Him;
⁹When He acts on the left, I cannot see Him;
He turns to the right, but I cannot see Him.
¹⁰But He knows the ^[d]way I take;
When He has ^(H)put me to the test, I will come out as gold.
¹¹My foot has ^(I)held on to His path;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.
¹²I have not ^[e]failed the command of His lips;
I have treasured the ^(J)words of His mouth ^[f]more than my ^[g]necessary food.
¹³But He is unique, and who can ^[h]make Him turn?
Whatever His soul desires, He does it.
¹⁴For He carries out what is destined for me,
And many such destinies are with Him.
¹⁵Therefore, I would be terrified at His presence;
When I consider this, I am frightened of Him.
¹⁶It is God who has made my ^(K)heart faint,
And the Almighty who has terrified me,
¹⁷But I ^(L)am not destroyed by darkness,
Nor by ^(M)deep gloom which covers me.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)