1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
1And YHWH answered Job out of the whirlwind, and He said:
2“Who is this who obscures My counsel
by words without knowledge?a
2“Who is this darkening counsel with words lacking knowledge?
3Now brace yourselfa like a man;
I will question you, and you shall inform Me.b
3Gird up your loins now like a man, and I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
4Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
4Where were you at my founding of the earth? Declare it if you know with understanding.
5Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know!
Or who stretched a measuring line across it?
5Who set its measurements? Surely you must know! Or who stretched over it a line?
6On what were its foundations set,
or who laid its cornerstone,a
6On what were its bases made to sink in, or who cast the stone of its corner,
7while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
7at the singing together by the stars of the morning, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8Who enclosed the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
8Or who shut in the sea with doors, at its coming forth in its bursting from the womb,
9when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its blanket,
9in my setting for the cloud its garment, and for the dark cloud its swaddling band,
10when I fixed its boundaries
and set in place its bars and doors,
10when I broke forth over it My decree, and set in place a bar and doors,
11and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther;
here your proud waves must stop’?
11and I said, ‘Up to here you may come, and you shall not go further; and here shall be set the pride of your waves’?
12In your days, have you commanded the morning
or assigned the dawn its place,
12have you commanded the morning from your days, and made the dawn to know its place,
13that it might spread to the ends of the earth
and shake the wicked out of it?
13for it to take hold of the edges of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
14It is turned over like clay under a seal, and they stand out like a garment.
15Light is withheld from the wicked,
and their upraised arm is broken.
15And their light is withheld from the wicked, and the arm upraised is broken.
16Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea
or walked in the trenches of the deep?
16Have you come to the springs of the sea, or in search of the depths have you walked about?
17Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
17Have the gates of death been uncovered to you, or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18Have you surveyed the extent of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.
18Have you comprehended to the breadths of the earth? Declare it if you know all of it.
19Where is the way to the home of light?
Do you know where darkness resides,
19Where is this way to the dwelling of light? And of darkness, where is this its place,
20so you can lead it back to its border?
Do you know the paths to its home?
20that you may take it to its border, that you may know the paths to its home?
21Surely you know, for you were already born!
And the number of your days is great!
21You must know it, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
22Have you entered the storehouses of snow
or observed the storehouses of hail,
22Have you come to the treasury of snow, or have you seen the treasury of hail,
23which I hold in reserve for times of trouble,
for the day of war and battle?
23that I have held back for a time of trouble, for a day of battle and war?
24In which direction is the lightning dispersed,
or the east wind scattered over the earth?
24Where is this, the way light is apportioned? The east wind is scattered over the earth.
25Who cuts a channel for the flood
or clears a path for the thunderbolt,
25Who has divided out a channel for the flood, or a path for the lightning of the thunderings,
26to bring rain on a barren land,
on a desert where no man lives,
26to make rain come upon a land without man, a desert without man in it,
27to satisfy the parched wasteland
and make it sprout with tender grass?
27to satisfy the waste and the desolation, and to make sprout the shoot of the grass?
28Does the rain have a father?
Who has begotten the drops of dew?
28Is there a father for the rain? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29From whose womb does the ice emerge?
Who gives birth to the frost from heaven,
29From whose womb comes forth the ice? And the frost of the heavens, who gives birth to it?
30when the waters become hard as stone
and the surface of the deep is frozen?
30Like stone, the waters hide themselves, and the face of the deep is seized.
31Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loosen the belt of Orion?
31Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or can you open the cords of Orion?
32Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasonsa
or lead out the Bearb and her cubs?
32Can you bring forth Mazzaroth in its time? Or can you lead out the Bear with her cubs?
33Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set their dominion over the earth?
33Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Or can you set its rule over the earth?
34Can you command the clouds
so that a flood of water covers you?
34Can you raise to the cloud your voice, and an abundance of waters will cover you?
35Can you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
35Can you send out lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Behold us’?
36Who has put wisdom in the hearta
or given understanding to the mind?
36Who has put wisdom in the inner parts? Or who has given to the heart understanding?
37Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
37Who can count the clouds by wisdom? Or the water skins of the heavens, who can tilt,
38when the dust hardens into a mass
and the clods of earth stick together?
38in the pouring of the dust into a mass, and the clods clinging together?
39Can you hunt the prey for a lioness
or satisfy the hunger of young lions
39Can you hunt prey for a lion, or satisfy the life of young lions,
40when they crouch in their dens
and lie in wait in the thicket?
40when they crouch in the dens, dwelling in a thicket, lying in wait in it?
41Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
as they wander about for lack of food?
41Who provides to the raven its food when its children cry out to God and wander for lack of food?