Job 23 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Job Replies: Where Is God?

Job 23:1

Job 23:1Then Job answered and said:

Job 23:2

Job 23:2“Today also my complaint is bitter;[fn]
my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.

Job 23:3

Job 23:3Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his seat!

Job 23:4

Job 23:4I would lay my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.

Job 23:5

Job 23:5I would know what he would answer me
and understand what he would say to me.

Job 23:6

Job 23:6Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No; he would pay attention to me.

Job 23:7

Job 23:7There an upright man could argue with him,
and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

Job 23:8

Job 23:8“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;

Job 23:9

Job 23:9on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.

Job 23:10

Job 23:10But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

Job 23:11

Job 23:11My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.

Job 23:12

Job 23:12I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

Job 23:13

Job 23:13But he is unchangeable,[fn] and who can turn him back?
What he desires, that he does.

Job 23:14

Job 23:14For he will complete what he appoints for me,
and many such things are in his mind.

Job 23:15

Job 23:15Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.

Job 23:16

Job 23:16God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;

Job 23:17

Job 23:17yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
nor because thick darkness covers my face.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(23:2)

Or defiant

(23:13)

Or one

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

Job Chapter 23 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Job 23 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Job Replies: Where Is God?

ESV Footnotes

Job Chapter 23 — Additional Translations:

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