1 A nd 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; and I will demand of thee, and inform thou me.

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

5 W ho set the measures thereof—if thou knowest? or who stretched a line upon it?

6 W hereupon were the foundations thereof sunken? or who laid its corner-stone,

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

8 A nd who shut up the sea with doors, when it burst forth, issuing out of the womb?

9 W hen I made the cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it;

10 W hen I cut out for it my boundary, and set bars and doors,

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

12 H ast thou since thy days commanded the morning? hast thou caused the dawn to know its place,

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

14 I t is changed like the signet-clay; and stand forth as in a garment:

15 A nd from the wicked their light is withholden, and the uplifted arm is broken.

16 H ast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? and hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?

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

18 H ath thine understanding compassed the breadths of the earth? Declare if thou knowest it all.

19 W here is the way to where light dwelleth? and the darkness, where is its place,

20 T hat thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths to its house?

21 T hou knowest, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!

22 H ast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, and hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,

23 W hich I have reserved for the time of distress, for the day of battle and war?

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

25 W ho hath divided a channel for the rain-flood, and a way for the thunder's flash;

26 T o cause it to rain on the earth, where no one is; on the wilderness wherein there is not a man;

27 T o satisfy the desolate and waste, and to cause the sprout of the grass to spring forth?

28 H ath the rain a father? or who begetteth the drops of dew?

29 O ut of whose womb cometh the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who bringeth it forth?

30 W hen the waters lie hidden as in stone, and the face of the deep holdeth fast together.

31 C anst thou fasten the bands of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?

32 D ost thou bring forth the constellations each in its season? or dost thou guide the Bear with her sons?

33 K nowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? dost thou determine their rule over the earth?

34 D ost thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that floods of waters may cover thee?

35 D ost 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 numbereth the clouds with wisdom? or who poureth out the bottles of the heavens,

38 W hen the dust runneth as into a molten mass, and the clods cleave fast together?

39 D ost thou hunt the prey for the lioness, and dost thou satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 W hen they crouch in dens, abide in the thicket to lie in wait?

41 W ho provideth for the raven his food, when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat?