1 T hen Job responded,

But Job answered,

2 “ What a help you are to the weak! How you have saved the arm without strength!

How you have helped him who is without power! How you have sustained the arm that is without strength!

3 “ What counsel you have given to one without wisdom! What helpful insight you have abundantly provided!

How you have counseled him who has no wisdom! And how plentifully you have declared to him sound knowledge!

4 “ To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit was expressed through you? The Greatness of God

With whose assistance have you uttered these words? And whose spirit came forth from you?

5 “ The departed spirits tremble Under the waters and their inhabitants.

The shades of the dead tremble underneath the waters and their inhabitants.

6 “ Naked is Sheol before Him, And Abaddon has no covering.

Sheol (the place of the dead) is naked before God, and Abaddon (the place of destruction) has no covering.

7 “ He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing.

He it is Who spreads out the northern skies over emptiness and hangs the earth upon or over nothing.

8 “ He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them.

He holds the waters bound in His clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them.

9 “ He obscures the face of the full moon And spreads His cloud over it.

He covers the face of His throne and spreads over it His cloud.

10 “ He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters At the boundary of light and darkness.

He has placed an enclosing limit upon the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.

11 “ The pillars of heaven tremble And are amazed at His rebuke.

The pillars of the heavens tremble and are astonished at His rebuke.

12 “ He quieted the sea with His power, And by His understanding He shattered Rahab.

He stills or stirs up the sea by His power, and by His understanding He smites proud Rahab.

13 “ By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.

By His breath the heavens are garnished; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

14 “ Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; And how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?”

Yet these are but the outskirts of His ways or the mere fringes of His force, the faintest whisper of His voice! Who dares contemplate or who can understand the thunders of His full, magnificent power?