New Living Translation

Holman Christian Standard Bible

1Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:

1Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:

2“Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?

2Who is this who obscures My counsel with ignorant words?

3Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.

3Get ready to answer Me like a man; when I question you, you will inform Me.

4“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.

4Where were you when I established the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.

5Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?

5Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone

6What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone

7as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

7while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb,

8Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst from the womb,

9and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness?

9when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,

10For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores.

10when I determined its boundaries and put its bars and doors in place,

11I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’

11when I declared: "You may come this far, but no farther; your proud waves stop here"?

12“Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?

12Have you ever in your life commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,

13Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?

13so it may seize the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?

14As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors.

14The earth is changed as clay is by a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.

15The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

15Light is withheld from the wicked, and the arm raised in violence is broken.

16“Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths?

16Have you traveled to the sources of the sea or walked in the depths of the oceans?

17Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?

17Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

18Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!

18Have you comprehended the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

19“Where does light come from, and where does darkness go?

19Where is the road to the home of light? Do you know where darkness lives,

20Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?

20so you can lead it back to its border? Are you familiar with the paths to its home?

21But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!

21Don't you know? You were already born; you have lived so long!

22“Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail?

22Have you entered the place where the snow is stored? Or have you seen the storehouses of hail,

23(I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.)

23which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of warfare and battle?

24Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind?

24What road leads to the place where light is dispersed? Where is the source of the east wind that spreads across the earth?

25“Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?

25Who cuts a channel for the flooding rain or clears the way for lightning,

26Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?

26to bring rain on an uninhabited land, on a desert with no human life,

27Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up?

27to satisfy the parched wasteland and cause the grass to sprout?

28“Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew?

28Does the rain have a father? Who fathered the drops of dew?

29Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?

29Whose womb did the ice come from? Who gave birth to the frost of heaven

30For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes.

30when water becomes as hard as stone, and the surface of the watery depths is frozen?

31“Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?

31Can you fasten the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?

32Can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?

32Can you bring out the constellations in their season and lead the Bear and her cubs?

33Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?

33Do you know the laws of heaven? Can you impose its authority on earth?

34“Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?

34Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you?

35Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct?

35Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go? Do they report to you: "Here we are"?

36Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind?

36Who put wisdom in the heart or gave the mind understanding?

37Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven

37Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of heaven

38when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods?

38when the dust hardens like cast metal and the clods of dirt stick together?

39“Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions’ appetites

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

40as they lie in their dens or crouch in the thicket?

40when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait within their lairs?

41Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God and wander about in hunger?

41Who provides the raven's food when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.