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

2 “ Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?

3 “ Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

4 “ Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,

5 W ho set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?

6 “ On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,

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

8 “ Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;

9 W hen I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 A nd I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,

11 A nd I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’? God’s Mighty Power

12 “ Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn 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 “ It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment.

15 “ From the wicked their light is withheld, And the 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 understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

19 “ Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,

20 T hat 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 W hich I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle?

24 “ Where is the way that the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth?

25 “ Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt,

26 T o bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it,

27 T o satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

28 “ Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 “ From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

30 “ Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

31 “ Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion?

32 “ Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?

33 “ Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?

34 “ Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will 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 innermost being Or given understanding to the mind?

37 “ Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or tip the water jars of the heavens,

38 W hen the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?

39 “ Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 W hen they crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair?

41 “ Who prepares for the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?