• God Speaks Now to Job

  • 1 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind and said,
  • 2 “Who is this who darkens the divine plan By words without knowledge?
  • 3 “Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man, And I shall ask you, and you inform Me!
  • 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,
  • 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the measuring line over it?
  • 6 “On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,
  • 7 When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
  • 8 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When it went out from the womb, bursting forth;
  • 9 When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling bands,
  • 10 And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,
  • 11 And I said, ‘As far as this point you shall come, but no farther; And here your proud waves shall stop’?

  • God’s Mighty Power

  • 12 “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And made the dawn know its place,
  • 13 So that it would take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked would be shaken off from it?
  • 14 “It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand out like a garment.
  • 15 “Their light is withheld from the wicked, And the uplifted arm is broken.
  • 16 “Have you entered the springs of the sea, And walked in the depth of the ocean?
  • 17 “Have the gates of death been revealed to you, And have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
  • 18 “Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.
  • 19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,
  • 20 That you would take it to its territory, And discern the paths to its home?
  • 21 “You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!
  • 22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, And have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
  • 23 Which I have reserved for a time of distress, For a day of war and battle?
  • 24 “Where is the way that the light is divided, And the east wind scattered on the earth?
  • 25 “Who has split open a channel for the flood, And a way for the thunderbolt,
  • 26 To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a person in it,
  • 27 To satisfy the waste and desolate land, And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?
  • 28 “Does the rain have a father? Or who has fathered the drops of dew?
  • 29 “From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?
  • 30 “Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.
  • 31 “Can you tie up the chains of the Pleiades, Or untie the cords of Orion?
  • 32 “Can you bring out a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?
  • 33 “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or do you establish their rule over the earth?
  • 34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you?
  • 35 “Can you send flashes of lightning, so that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’?
  • 36 “Who has put wisdom in the innermost being, Or given understanding to the mind?
  • 37 “Who can count the clouds by wisdom, And pour out the water jars of the heavens,
  • 38 When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?
  • 39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of young lions,
  • 40 When they crouch in their hiding places, And lie in wait in their lair?
  • 41 “Who prepares feed for the raven When its young cry to God, And wander about without food?