^{1 Ref} Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,

^{2 Ref} "Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?

^{3 Ref} Brace yourself like a man, For I will question you, then you answer me!

^{4 Ref} "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.

^{5 Ref} Who determined the measures of it, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?

^{6 Ref} Whereupon were the foundations of it fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,

^{7 Ref} When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

^{8 Ref} "Or who shut up the sea with doors, When it broke forth from the womb,

^{9 Ref} When I made clouds the garment of it, Thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,

^{10 Ref} Marked out for it my bound, Set bars and doors,

^{11 Ref} And said, 'Here you may come, but no further; Here shall your proud waves be stayed?'

^{12 Ref} "Have you commanded the morning in your days, And caused the dawn to know its place;

^{13 Ref} That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And shake the wicked out of it?

^{14 Ref} It is changed as clay under the seal, And stands forth as a garment.

^{15 Ref} From the wicked, their light is withheld, The high arm is broken.

^{16 Ref} "Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?

^{17 Ref} Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

^{18 Ref} Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if you know it all.

^{19 Ref} "What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is the place of it,

^{20 Ref} That you should take it to the bound of it, That you should discern the paths to the house of it?

^{21 Ref} Surely you know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!

^{22 Ref} Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, Or have you seen the treasures of the hail,

^{23 Ref} Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war?

^{24 Ref} By what way is the lightning distributed, Or the east wind scattered on the earth?

^{25 Ref} Who has cut a channel for the flood water, Or the path for the thunderstorm;

^{26 Ref} To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, in which there is no man;

^{27 Ref} To satisfy the waste and desolate ground, To cause the tender grass to spring forth?

^{28 Ref} Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?

^{29 Ref} Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it?

^{30 Ref} The waters become hard like stone, When the surface of the deep is frozen.

^{31 Ref} "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loosen the cords of Orion?

^{32 Ref} Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?

^{33 Ref} Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish the dominion of it over the earth?

^{34 Ref} "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you?

^{35 Ref} Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?'

^{36 Ref} Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?

^{37 Ref} Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky,

³⁸ When the dust runs into a mass, And the clods of earth stick together?

^{39 Ref} "Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

^{40 Ref} When they crouch in their dens, And lie in wait in the thicket?

^{41 Ref} Who provides for the raven his prey, When his young ones cry to God, And wander for lack of food?