| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind: | 1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: |
| 2“Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? | 2"Who is this who darkens counsel with words without knowledge? |
| 3Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. | 3Get ready for a difficult task like a man; I will question you and you will inform me! |
| 4“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. | 4"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding! |
| 5Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? | 5Who set its measurements--if you know--or who stretched a measuring line across it? |
| 6What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone | 6On what were its bases set, or who laid its cornerstone-- |
| 7as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? | 7when the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? |
| 8“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, | 8"Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst forth, coming out of the womb, |
| 9and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? | 9when I made the storm clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, |
| 10For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. | 10when I prescribed its limits, and set in place its bolts and doors, |
| 11I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’ | 11when I said, 'To here you may come and no farther, here your proud waves will be confined'? |
| 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 made the dawn know its place, |
| 13Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness? | 13that it might seize the corners 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 takes shape like clay under a seal; its features are dyed like a garment. |
| 15The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence. | 15Then from the wicked the light is withheld, 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 gone to the springs that fill the sea, or walked about in the recesses of the deep? |
| 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 deepest darkness? |
| 18Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know! | 18Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know it all! |
| 19“Where does light come from, and where does darkness go? | 19"In what direction does light reside, and darkness, where is its place, |
| 20Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there? | 20that you may take them to their borders and perceive the pathways to their homes? |
| 21But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced! | 21You know, for you were born before them; and the number of your days is great! |
| 22“Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail? | 22Have you entered the storehouse of the snow, or seen the armory of the hail, |
| 23(I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.) | 23which I reserve for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle? |
| 24Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind? | 24In what direction is lightning dispersed, or the east winds scattered over the earth? |
| 25“Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning? | 25Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains, and a path for the rumble of thunder, |
| 26Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives? | 26to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, a desert where there are no human beings, |
| 27Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up? | 27to satisfy a devastated and desolate land, and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? |
| 28“Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew? | 28Does the rain have a father, or who has fathered the drops of the dew? |
| 29Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens? | 29From whose womb does the ice emerge, and the frost from the sky, who gives birth to it, |
| 30For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes. | 30when the waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen solid? |
| 31“Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion? | 31Can you tie the bands of the Pleiades, or release the cords of Orion? |
| 32Can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens? | 32Can you lead out the constellations in their seasons, or guide the Bear with its cubs? |
| 33Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth? | 33Do you know the laws of the heavens, or can you set up their rule over the earth? |
| 34“Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain? | 34Can you raise your voice to 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? Will they say to you, 'Here we are'? |
| 36Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind? | 36Who has put wisdom in the heart, or has imparted understanding to the mind? |
| 37Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven | 37Who by wisdom can count the clouds, and who can tip over the water jars of heaven, |
| 38when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods? | 38when the dust hardens into a mass, and the clumps of earth stick together? |
| 39“Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions’ appetites | 39"Do you hunt prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of the lions, |
| 40as they lie in their dens or crouch in the thicket? | 40when they crouch in their dens, when they wait in ambush in the thicket? |
| 41Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God and wander about in hunger? | 41Who prepares prey for the raven, when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? |
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