Job 23:1-24:12
Then Job answered and said:
“Today also my complaint is bitter;my hand is heavy on account of my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him,that I might come even to his seat! I would lay my case before himand fill my mouth with arguments. I would know what he would answer meand understand what he would say to me. Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?No; he would pay attention to me. There an upright man could argue with him,and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take;when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to his steps;I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me,and many such things are in his mind. Therefore I am terrified at his presence;when I consider, I am in dread of him. God has made my heart faint;the Almighty has terrified me; yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,nor because thick darkness covers my face.
“Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty,and why do those who know him never see his days? Some move landmarks;they seize flocks and pasture them. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. They thrust the poor off the road;the poor of the earth all hide themselves. Behold, like wild donkeys in the desertthe poor go out to their toil, seeking game;the wasteland yields food for their children. They gather their fodder in the field,and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man. They lie all night naked, without clothing,and have no covering in the cold. They are wet with the rain of the mountainsand cling to the rock for lack of shelter. (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,and they take a pledge against the poor.) They go about naked, without clothing;hungry, they carry the sheaves; among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil;they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst. From out of the city the dying groan,and the soul of the wounded cries for help;yet God charges no one with wrong.