1 ① Job answered and said:
2Again today my complaint is rebellious;
I groan under his heavy hand.
3If only I knew where to find him,
if only I could go to his dwelling,
4I would bring my case before him
and lay out in full my arguments.
5I would find out his answer
and understand what he would say.
6Would he need great power to debate with me?
No! he needs only to listen!
7He would know the complainant to be an upright man
and I would be free of my judge.
8But if I go eastward, he is not there;
if I go westward, I still cannot see him.
9Seeking him in the north, I do not find him;
looking for him in the south, he is not there.
10But he knows my every step,
and I will come out as gold in his test.
11I have always walked along his path;
I have kept his ways and not turned aside.
12I have not departed from his commands,
instead I have treasured his words.
13But who can oppose once he has decided?
He does what he desires.
14He will carry out his decree
and other plans laid out for me.
15That is why I am terrified
when I think of all this.
16God has made me lose courage;
the Almighty has made me afraid,
17but I am not silenced by darkness,
by the thick gloom that covers my face.
- Job 23,1 Job comes back to what he had already said: there is something tormenting religious people: to know that God is always looking at us and yet never be able to find him. This was commented for chapter 7: Job personifies those who do not know Christ and have not felt how good the Lord is towards those who serve him with love. The same rebellion is found in many atheists today: they reject the idea of a God who watches them only to punish their faults.
