2  “Today also my ^rcomplaint is bitter;¹

my ^shand is heavy on account of my groaning.

3  Oh, ^tthat I knew where I might find him,

that I might come even to his ^useat!

4  I would ^vlay my case before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

5  I would know what he would answer me

and understand what he would say to me.

6  Would he ^wcontend with me in the greatness of his power?

No; he would pay attention to me.

7  There an upright man could argue with him,

and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

8  “Behold, ^xI go forward, but he is not there,

and backward, but I do not perceive him;

9  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.

10  But he ^yknows ^zthe way that I ^atake;

when he has ^btried me, I shall come out as gold.

11  My foot ^chas held fast to his steps;

I have kept his way and have ^dnot turned aside.

12  I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;

I have ^etreasured the words of his mouth more than my ^fportion of food.

13  But he is unchangeable,² and ^gwho can turn him back?

What he ^hdesires, that he does.

14  For he will complete what he ⁱappoints for me,

and many such things are ^jin his mind.

15  Therefore I am terrified at his presence;

when I consider, I am in dread of him.

16  God has made my ^kheart faint;

the Almighty has terrified me;

17  yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,

nor because thick darkness covers my face.