1 T hen Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,

2 “ Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3 B race yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!

4 “ Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.

5 W ho determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?

6 W hereupon were its foundations fastened? 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 shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb,

9 w hen I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,

10 m arked out for it my bound, set bars and doors,

11 a nd said, ‘Here you may come, but no further. Here your proud waves shall be stayed?’

12 “ Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place;

13 t hat it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it?

14 I t is changed as clay under the seal, and presented as a garment.

15 F rom the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.

16 “ Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 H ave the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

18 H ave you comprehended the earth in its width? Declare, if you know it all.

19 “ What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,

20 t hat you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?

21 S urely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!

22 H ave you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you 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 lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?

25 W ho has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm;

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

27 t o satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to grow?

28 D oes the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?

29 O ut of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it?

30 T he waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen.

31 “ Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?

32 C an you lead the constellations out in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?

33 D o you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?

34 “ Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you?

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

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

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

38 w hen the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?

39 “ Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 w hen they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?

41 W ho provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?