1 T hen Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

2 W ho is this that darkeneth counsel By words without knowledge?

3 G ird up now thy loins like a man; For I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

4 W here wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.

5 W ho determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched the line upon it?

6 W hereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner-stone thereof,

7 W hen the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 O r who shut up the sea with doors, When it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb;

9 W hen I made clouds the garment thereof, And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,

10 A nd marked out for it my bound, And set bars and doors,

11 A nd said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

12 H ast thou commanded the morning since thy days began, And caused the dayspring to know its place;

13 T hat it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?

14 I t is changed as clay under the seal; And all things stand forth as a garment:

15 A nd from the wicked their light is withholden, And the high arm is broken.

16 H ast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 H ave the gates of death been revealed unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

18 H ast thou comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if thou knowest it all.

19 W here is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof,

20 T hat thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?

21 D oubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born, And the number of thy days is great!

22 H ast thou entered the treasuries of the snow, Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

23 W hich I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war?

24 B y what way is the light parted, Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?

25 W ho hath cleft a channel for the waterflood, Or the way for the lightning of the thunder;

26 T o cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

27 T o satisfy the waste and desolate ground, And to cause the tender grass to spring forth?

28 H ath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

29 O ut of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

30 T he waters hide themselves and become like stone, And the face of the deep is frozen.

31 C anst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the bands of Orion?

32 C anst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train?

33 K nowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?

34 C anst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover thee?

35 C anst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, And say unto thee, Here we are?

36 W ho hath put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who hath given understanding to the mind?

37 W ho can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,

38 W hen the dust runneth into a mass, And the clods cleave fast together?

39 C anst thou hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 W hen they couch in their dens, And abide in the covert to lie in wait?

41 W ho provideth for the raven his prey, When his young ones cry unto God, And wander for lack of food?