| 1 | Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind, |
| 2 | "Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? |
| 3 | Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me! |
| 4 | "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding. |
| 5 | Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it? |
| 6 | Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, |
| 7 | when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? |
| 8 | "Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth from the womb, |
| 9 | when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness, |
| 10 | marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors, |
| 11 | and said, 'Here you may come, but no further. Here your proud waves shall be stayed?' |
| 12 | "Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place; |
| 13 | that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it? |
| 14 | It is changed as clay under the seal, and stands forth as a garment. |
| 15 | From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken. |
| 16 | "Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep? |
| 17 | Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? |
| 18 | Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if you know it all. |
| 19 | "What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place, |
| 20 | that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house? |
| 21 | Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great! |
| 22 | Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you seen the treasures of the hail, |
| 23 | which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? |
| 24 | By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth? |
| 25 | Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm; |
| 26 | To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; on the wilderness, in which there is no man; |
| 27 | to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to spring forth? |
| 28 | Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew? |
| 29 | Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it? |
| 30 | The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen. |
| 31 | "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion? |
| 32 | Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs? |
| 33 | Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth? |
| 34 | "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you? |
| 35 | Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?' |
| 36 | Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind? |
| 37 | Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky, |
| 38 | when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together? |
| 39 | "Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, |
| 40 | when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket? |
| 41 | Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food? |
