1   Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job. The Lord

2   
Who are you to question my wisdom
  with your ignorant, empty words?

3   
Stand up now like a man
  and answer the questions I ask you.

4   
Were you there when I made the world?
  If you know so much, tell me about it.

5   
Who decided how large it would be?
  Who stretched the measuring line over it?
  Do you know all the answers?

6   
What holds up the pillars ^note that support the earth?
  Who laid the cornerstone of the world?

7   
In the dawn of that day the stars sang together,
  and the heavenly beings ^note shouted for joy. ^note

8   
Who closed the gates to hold back the sea ^note
  when it burst from the womb of the earth?

9   
It was I who covered the sea with clouds
  and wrapped it in darkness.

10   
I marked a boundary for the sea
  and kept it behind bolted gates.

11   
I told it, “So far and no farther!
  Here your powerful waves must stop.” ^note

12   
Job, have you ever in all your life
  commanded a day to dawn?

13   
Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth
  and shake the wicked from their hiding places?

14   
Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out
  like the folds of a garment,
  clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.

15   
The light of day is too bright for the wicked
  and restrains them from doing violence.

16   
Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea?

  Have you walked on the floor of the ocean?

17   
Has anyone ever shown you the gates
  that guard the dark world of the dead?

18   
Have you any idea how big the world is?
  Answer me if you know.

19   
Do you know where the light comes from
  or what the source of darkness is?

20   
Can you show them how far to go,
  or send them back again?

21   
I am sure you can, because you're so old
  and were there when the world was made!

22   
Have you ever visited the storerooms.
  where I keep the snow and the hail?

23   
I keep them ready for times of trouble,
  for days of battle and war.

24   
Have you been to the place where the sun comes up,
  or the place from which the east wind blows?

25   
Who dug a channel for the pouring rain
  and cleared the way for the thunderstorm?

26   
Who makes rain fall where no one lives?

27   
Who waters the dry and thirsty land,
  so that grass springs up?

28   
Does either the rain or the dew have a father?

29   
Who is the mother of the ice and the frost,

30   
  which turn the waters to stone
  and freeze the face of the sea?

31   
Can you tie the Pleiades together
  or loosen the bonds that hold Orion? ^note

32   
Can you guide the stars season by season
  and direct the Big and the Little Dipper?

33   
Do you know the laws that govern the skies,
  and can you make them apply to the earth?

34   
Can you shout orders to the clouds
  and make them drench you with rain?

35   
And if you command the lightning to flash,
  will it come to you and say, “At your service”?

36   
Who tells the ibis ^note when the Nile will flood,
  or who tells the rooster that rain will fall? ^note

37   
Who is wise enough to count the clouds
  and tilt them over to pour out the rain,

38   
rain that hardens the dust into lumps?

39   
Do you find food for lions to eat,
  and satisfy hungry young lions

40   
  when they hide in their caves,
  or lie in wait in their dens?

41   
Who is it that feeds the ravens
  when they wander about hungry,
  when their young cry to me for food?

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