1“At this my heart also pounds
and leaps from its place.
1“ Indeed at this my heart trembles, and it leaps from its place.
2Listen closely to the thunder of His voice
and the rumbling that comes from His mouth.
2Listen closely to the quaking of His voice, and the rumbling from His mouth that comes forth.
3He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky
and sends it to the ends of the earth.
3Beneath all the heaven He unleashes it, and His lightning is over the edges of the earth.
4Then there comes a roaring sound;
He thunders with His majestic voice.
He does not restrain the lightning
when His voice resounds.
4After it, a voice roars; He thunders with the voice of His majesty, and He does not restrain them when His voice is heard.
5God thunders wondrously with His voice;
He does great things we cannot comprehend.
5God thunders with His voice wondrously; He does great things that we cannot know.
6For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’
6For to the snow He says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the shower of rain, and to the shower, ‘Be the rains of His might.’
7He seals up the hand of every man,
so that all men may know His work.
7He seals up the hand of every man, for the knowing of His work by all men.
8The wild animals enter their lairs;
they settle down in their dens.
8And the beast comes into its lair, and in its dens it shall dwell.
9The tempest comes from its chamber,
and the cold from the driving north winds.
9From its chamber the whirlwind comes, and the cold from the scattering winds.
10By the breath of God the ice is formed
and the watery expanses are frozen.
10From the breath of God, ice is given, and the breadth of the waters is in constraint.
11He loads the clouds with moisture;
He scatters His lightning through them.
11Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud; His lightning scatters the cloud.
12They swirl about,
whirling at His direction,
accomplishing all that He commands
over the face of all the earth.
12And it turns around, being turned about by His guidance, to do all of what He commands them above the face of the habitation of the earth.
13Whether for punishment or for His land,
He accomplishes this in His loving devotion.
13If for the rod, if for His land, if in His loving devotion, He makes it find it.
14Listen to this, O Job;
stand still and consider the wonders of God.
14Give ear to this, O Job; stand and consider the wonders of God.
15Do you know how God dispatches the clouds
or makes the lightning flash?
15Do you know how God does place upon them, and how He causes the light of His cloud to shine?
16Do you understand how the clouds float,
those wonders of Him who is perfect in knowledge?
16Do you know about the balancing of the cloud, the wonders of the One perfect in knowledge,
17You whose clothes get hot
when the land lies hushed under the south wind,
17you whose garments are hot in the quieting of the earth from the south?
18can you, like Him, spread out the skies,
as strong as a mirror of bronze?
18Have you beaten the skies with him, strong as a mirror of cast metal?
19Teach us what we should say to Him;
we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.
19Make us know what we should say to Him; we cannot arrange from the face of the darkness.
20Should He be told that I want to speak?
Would a man ask to be swallowed up?a
20Should it be told to Him that I would speak, If a man spoke that he would be swallowed up?
21Now no one can gaze at the sun
when it is bright in the skies
after the wind has swept them clean.
21And now they cannot look at the light; it is bright in the clouds when the wind has passed over and cleansed them.
22Out of the north He comes in golden splendor;
awesome majesty surrounds Him.
22Gold comes from the north; upon God is a fearsome majesty.
23The Almighty is beyond our reach;
He is exalted in power!
In His justice and great righteousness
He does not oppress.
23Shaddai—we cannot find Him out! He is great in power and judgment, and abundant in righteousness, He does not oppress.
24Therefore, men fear Him,
for He is not partial to the wise in heart.”
24Therefore men fear Him; He does not regard any of the wise of heart.”