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

2 “ Who is this that makes words of wisdom dark by speaking without much learning?

3 N ow get ready like a man, and I will ask you some questions and you answer Me.

4 W here were you when I began building the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.

5 W ho decided how big it was to be, since you know? Who looked to see if it was as big as it should be?

6 W hat was it built upon? Who laid its first stone,

7 w hen the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God called out for joy?

8 “ Who shut up the sea with doors, when it rushed out from its secret place?

9 I made clouds its clothing, and put much darkness around it.

10 I marked the places where it could not pass, and set locks and doors.

11 A nd I said, ‘You will come this far, and no farther. Here will your proud waves stop.’

12 “ Have you ever in your life told the morning when to come, and caused the first light of day to know its place,

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

14 I t is changed like clay when an object is pushed down to mark it, and they stand out like clothing.

15 T he light of the sinful is held back, and the arm lifted up is broken.

16 “ Have you gone into the wells of the sea? Have you walked on the bottom of the deep sea?

17 H ave the gates of death been shown to you? Or have you seen the gates of the deep darkness?

18 H ave you understood how great the earth is? Tell Me, if you know all this.

19 “ Where does the light come from? And where is the place of darkness,

20 t hat you may take it to its land, and know the paths to its home?

21 Y ou know, for you were born then. You are very old!

22 H ave you gone into the store-houses of the snow? Have you seen the store-houses of the hail,

23 w hich I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle?

24 W hat is the way to the place where the light is divided, or the east wind spread over the earth?

25 “ Who has cut open a way for the flood, and a path for the thunderstorm?

26 W ho brings rain on the land without people, on a desert without a man in it,

27 t o fill the need of the wasted land, and to make the grass grow?

28 D oes the rain have a father? Who has given birth to the drops of rain?

29 W ho gave birth to ice? And who gave birth to the snow water of heaven?

30 W ater becomes hard like stone, and the top of the sea is covered with ice.

31 “ Can you tie the chains of the stars of Pleiades, or loose the ropes of Orion?

32 C an you lead the groups of stars out at the right times? Can you lead the stars of the Bear with her young?

33 D o you know the laws of the heavens? Can you make them to rule over the earth?

34 “ Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of water may cover you?

35 C an you send out lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?

36 W ho has given wisdom to the heart? Who has given understanding to the mind?

37 W ho can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can push over the water jars of the heavens,

38 w hen the dust gathers together and becomes hard?

39 “ Can you hunt food for the lion? Can you fill the hunger of the young lions,

40 w hen they lie in their own place in the rock, or wait in their hiding place?

41 W ho gets the food ready for the raven, when its young cry to God and go about without food?