1 | "At this also my heart trembles, and leaps out of its place. |
2 | Hearken to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth. |
3 | Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth. |
4 | After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard. |
5 | God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things which we cannot comprehend. |
6 | For to the snow he says, `Fall on the earth'; and to the shower and the rain, `Be strong.' |
7 | He seals up the hand of every man, that all men may know his work. |
8 | Then the beasts go into their lairs, and remain in their dens. |
9 | From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds. |
10 | By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. |
11 | He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning. |
12 | They turn round and round by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world. |
13 | Whether for correction, or for his land, or for love, he causes it to happen. |
14 | "Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God. |
15 | Do you know how God lays his command upon them, and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine? |
16 | Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge, |
17 | you whose garments are hot when the earth is still because of the south wind? |
18 | Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a molten mirror? |
19 | Teach us what we shall say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of darkness. |
20 | Shall it be told him that I would speak? Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up? |
21 | "And now men cannot look on the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them. |
22 | Out of the north comes golden splendor; God is clothed with terrible majesty. |
23 | The Almighty -- we cannot find him; he is great in power and justice, and abundant righteousness he will not violate. |
24 | Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit." |
1 | Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: |
2 | "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? |
3 | Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. |
4 | "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. |
5 | Who determined its measurements -- surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon 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 shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the womb; |
9 | when I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, |
10 | and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, |
11 | and said, `Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed'? |
12 | "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, |
13 | that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? |
14 | It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment. |
15 | From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken. |
16 | "Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? |
17 | Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? |
18 | Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this. |
19 | "Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, |
20 | that you may take it to its territory and that you may 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, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, |
23 | which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? |
24 | What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? |
25 | "Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt, |
26 | to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man; |
27 | to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass? |
28 | "Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? |
29 | From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven? |
30 | The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. |
31 | "Can you bind the chains of the Plei'ades, or loose the cords of Orion? |
32 | Can you lead forth the Maz'zaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? |
33 | Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? |
34 | "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? |
35 | Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, `Here we are'? |
36 | Who has put wisdom in the clouds, or given understanding to the mists? |
37 | Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, |
38 | when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cleave fast together? |
39 | "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, |
40 | when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert? |
41 | Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food? |