¹Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind ,

²“Who is this who darkens counsel

by words without knowledge ?

³Brace 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.

⁵Who determined its measures , if you know ?

Or who stretched the line on it ?

⁶What were its foundations fastened on ?

Or who laid its cornerstone ,

⁷when 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 ,

⁹when I made clouds its garment ,

and wrapped it in thick darkness ,

¹⁰marked out for it my bound,

set bars and doors ,

¹¹and said, ‘You may come here , but no further .

Your proud waves shall be stopped here ’?

¹²“Have you commanded the morning in your days ,

and caused the dawn to know its place ,

¹³that it might take hold of the ends of the earth,

and shake the wicked out of it?

¹⁴It is changed as clay under the seal ,

and presented as a garment .

¹⁵From 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 ?

¹⁷Have the gates of death been revealed to you ?

Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death ?

¹⁸Have 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 ,

²⁰that you should take it to its bound ,

that you should discern the paths to its house ?

²¹Surely you know , for you were born then ,

and the number of your days is great !

²²Have you entered the storehouses of the snow ,

or have you seen the storehouses of the hail ,

²³which I have reserved against the time of trouble ,

against the day of battle and war ?

²⁴By what way is the lightning distributed ,

or the east wind scattered on the earth?

²⁵Who has cut a channel for the flood water,

or the path for the thunderstorm,

²⁶to cause it to rain on a land where there is no man,

on the wilderness , in which there is no man,

²⁷to satisfy the waste and desolate ground,

to cause the tender grass to grow ?

²⁸Does the rain have a father ?

Or who fathers the drops of dew ?

²⁹Whose womb did the ice come out of ?

Who has given birth to the grey frost of the sky ?

³⁰The 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 ?

³²Can you lead the constellations out in their season ?

Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?

³³Do 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 ?

³⁵Can you send out lightnings , that they may go ?

Do they report to you , ‘Here we are’?

³⁶Who has put wisdom in the inward parts ?

Or who has given understanding to the mind ?

³⁷Who can count the clouds by wisdom ?

Or who can pour out the containers of the sky ,

³⁸when 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 ,

⁴⁰when they crouch in their dens ,

and lie in wait in the thicket?

⁴¹Who provides for the raven his prey ,

when his young ones cry to God ,

and wander for lack of food ?