Job 36:26–37:24

²⁶We cannot fully know his greatness

or count the number of his years.

²⁷It is God who takes water from the earth

and turns it into drops of rain.

²⁸He lets the rain pour from the clouds

in showers for the whole human race.

²⁹No one knows how the clouds move

or how the thunder roars

through the sky, where God dwells.

³⁰He sends lightning through all the sky,

but the depths of the sea remain dark.

³¹This is how he feedsⁿ the people

and provides an abundance of food.

³²He seizes the lightning with his hands

and commands it to hit the mark.

³³Thunder announces the approaching storm,

and the cattle know it is coming.

37The storm makes my heart beat wildly.

²Listen, all of you,

to the voice of God, to the thunder that comes from his mouth.

³He sends the lightning across the sky,

from one end of the earth to the other.

⁴Then the roar of his voice is heard,

the majestic sound of thunder,

and all the while the lightning flashes.

⁵At God’s command amazing things happen,

wonderful things that we can’t understand.

⁶He commands snow to fall on the earth,

and sends torrents of drenching rain.

⁷He brings our work to a stop;

he shows us what he can do.^o

⁸The wild animals go to their dens.

⁹The storm winds come from the south,

and the biting cold from the north.

¹⁰The breath of God freezes the waters,

and turns them to solid ice.

¹¹Lightning flashes from the clouds,^p

¹²as they move at God’s will.

They do all that God commands,

everywhere throughout the world.

¹³God sends rain to water the earth;

he may send it to punish us,

or to show us his favour.

¹⁴Pause a moment, Job, and listen;

consider the wonderful things God does.

¹⁵Do you know how God gives the command

and makes lightning flash from the clouds?

¹⁶Do you know how clouds float in the sky,

the work of God’s amazing skill?

¹⁷No, you can only suffer in the heat

when the south wind oppresses the land.

¹⁸Can you help God stretch out the sky

and make it as hard as polished metal?

¹⁹Teach us what to say to God;

our minds are blank; we have nothing to say.

²⁰I won’t ask to speak with God;

why should I give him a chance to destroy me?

²¹And now the light in the sky is dazzling,

too bright for us to look at it;

and the sky has been swept clean by the wind.

²²A golden glow is seen in the north,

and the glory of God fills us with awe.

²³God’s power is so great that we cannot come near him;

he is righteous and just in his dealings with us.

²⁴No wonder, then, that everyone stands in awe of him,

and that he ignores those who claim to be wise.