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23:1  Then Job answered,
23:2  Even today is my complaint rebellious and bitter; my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
23:3  Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat!
23:4  I would lay my cause before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.
23:5  I would learn what He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me.
23:6  Would He plead against me with His great power? No, He would give heed to me.
23:7  There the righteous [one who is upright and in right standing with God] could reason with Him; so I should be acquitted by my Judge forever.
23:8  Behold, I go forward [and to the east], but He is not there; I go backward [and to the west], but I cannot perceive Him;
23:9  On the left hand [and to the north] where He works [I seek Him], but I cannot behold Him; He turns Himself to the right hand [and to the south], but I cannot see Him.
23:10  But He knows the way that I take [He has concern for it, appreciates, and pays attention to it]. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold [pure and luminous].
23:11  My foot has held fast to His steps; His ways have I kept and not turned aside.
23:12  I have not gone back from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed and treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
23:13  But He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him? And what He wants to do, that He does.
23:14  For He performs [that which He has] planned for me, and of many such matters He is mindful.
23:15  Therefore am I troubled and terrified at His presence; when I consider, I am in dread and afraid of Him.
23:16  For God has made my heart faint, timid, and broken, and the Almighty has terrified me,
23:17  Because I was not cut off before the darkness [of these woes befell me], neither has He covered the thick darkness from my face.