The Lord Speaks
1The Lord spoke to Job out of a storm. He said,
2“Who do you think you are to disagree with my plans?
You do not know what you are talking about.
3Get ready to stand up for yourself.
I will ask you some questions.
Then I want you to answer me.
4“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you know.
5Who measured it? I am sure you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6What was it built on?
Who laid its most important stone?
7When it happened, the morning stars sang together.
All the angels shouted with joy.
8“Who created the ocean?
Who caused it to be born?
9I put clouds over it as if they were its clothes.
I wrapped it in thick darkness.
10I set limits for it.
I put its doors and metal bars in place.
11I said, ‘You can come this far.
But you can’t come any farther.
Here is where your proud waves have to stop.’
12“Job, have you ever commanded the morning to come?
Have you ever shown the sun where to rise?
13The daylight takes the earth by its edges
as if it were a blanket.
Then it shakes sinful people out of it.
14The earth takes shape like clay stamped with an official’s mark.
Its features stand out
like the different parts of your clothes.
15Sinners would rather have darkness than light.
When the light comes, their power is broken.
16“Have you traveled to the springs at the bottom of the ocean?
Have you walked in its deepest parts?
17Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18Do you understand how big the earth is?
Tell me, if you know all these things.
19“Where does light come from?
And where does darkness live?
20Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their houses?
21I am sure you know! After all, you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22“Have you entered the places where the snow is kept?
Have you seen the storerooms for the hail?
23I store up snow and hail for times of trouble.
I keep them for days of war and battle.
24Where does lightning come from?
Where do the east winds live that blow across the earth?
25Who tells the rain where it should fall?
Who makes paths for the thunderstorms?
26They bring water to places where no one lives.
They water deserts that do not have anyone in them.
27They satisfy the needs of dry and empty lands.
They make grass start growing there.
28Does the rain have a father?
Who is the father of the drops of dew?
29Does the ice have a mother?
Who is the mother of the frost from the heavens?
30The waters become as hard as stone.
The surface of the ocean freezes over.
31“Can you tie up the cords of the Pleiades?
Can you untie the belt that Orion wears?
32Can you bring out all the stars in their seasons?
Can you lead out the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper?
33Do you know the laws that govern the heavens?
Can you rule over the earth the way I do?
34“Can you give orders to the clouds?
Can you make them pour rain down on you?
35Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36Who gives the ibis wisdom?
Who gives the rooster understanding?
37Who is wise enough to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens?
38I tip them over when the ground becomes hard.
I do it when the dirt sticks together.
39“Do you hunt for food for mother lions?
Do you satisfy the hunger of their cubs?
40Some of them lie low in their dens.
Others lie waiting in the bushes.
41Who provides food for ravens
when their babies cry out to me?
They wander around because they do not have anything to eat.
The Lord speaks
1Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2‘Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4‘Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone –
7while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels38:7 Hebrew the sons of God shouted for joy?
8‘Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11when I said, “This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt”?
12‘Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16‘Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19‘What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22‘Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26to water a land where no-one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31‘Can you bind the chains38:31 Septuagint; Hebrew beauty of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
32Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons38:32 Or the morning star in its season
or lead out the Bear38:32 Or out Leo with its cubs?
33Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s38:33 Or their dominion over the earth?
34‘Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, “Here we are”?
36Who gives the ibis wisdom38:36 That is, wisdom about the flooding of the Nile
or gives the cockerel understanding?38:36 That is, understanding of when to crow; the meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
37Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
39‘Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
