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Job Says He Longs for God

¹ Then Job ^(F1)replied,

² "Even today my ^(C1)complaint is rebellion;
^(F1)His hand is ^(C2)heavy despite my groaning.

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

⁴ "I would ^(C1)present my case before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵ "I would learn the words which He would ^(F1)answer,
And perceive what He would say to me.

⁶ "Would He contend with me by ^(C1)the greatness of His power?
No, surely He would pay attention to me.

⁷ "There the upright would ^(C1)reason with Him;
And I ^(F1)would be ^(C2)delivered forever from my Judge.

⁸ "Behold, I go forward but He is not there,
And backward, but I ^(C1)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 ^(F1)way I take;
When He has ^(C1)tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

¹¹ "My foot has ^(C1)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 ^(C1)words of His mouth ^(F1)more than my ^(F2)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 ^(C1)heart faint,
And the Almighty who has dismayed me,

¹⁷ But I ^(C1)am not silenced by the darkness,
Nor ^(C2)deep gloom which covers me.