Job 36:24–40:2
24 Remember that you should extol his work,
of which people have sung.
25 All human beings have looked on it;
everyone watches from afar.
26 “Look, God is exalted, and we do not know him;
the number of his years is unsearchable.
27 Indeed, he draws up the drops of water;
he distills the rain into its mist,
28 which the clouds pour down;
they shower abundantly on human beings.
29 “Moreover, ⌊can anyone understand⌋t the spreading of clouds,
the thundering of his dwelling place?
30 Look, he scatters his lightning around him,
and he covers the roots of the sea.
31 Indeed, he judges people by them;
he gives food ⌊in abundance⌋.u
32 He covers his hands with lightning,
and he commands it the place at which to strike.
33 His thundering tells about him;
the livestock also tell ⌊concerning what rises⌋.v
37 “About this also my heart trembles,
and it leaps from its place.
2 Listen carefully to his voice’s thunder
and the rumbling that goes out from his mouth.
3 He lets it loose under all the heavens,
and his lightning to the earth’s corners.
it thunders ⌊with his majestic voice⌋,a
and he does not restrain it when his voice is heard.
5 “God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways;
he does great things, and we cannot comprehend.
6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth’;
and ⌊the shower of rain, his heavy shower of rain⌋b—
7 ⌊he stops all human beings from working⌋c
⌊so that everyone whom he has made may know it⌋.d
8 Thene the animal goes into its den,
and it remains in its den.
9 “The storm wind comes from its chamber
and cold from the north wind.
10 By God’s breath, ice is given,
and the broad waters are frozen.
11 Also, he loads down thick clouds with moisture;
his lightning scatters the clouds.
12 And ⌊they⌋f turn around by his guidance
to accomplish all that he has commanded them
on the face of ⌊the habitable world⌋.g
13 Whether as ⌊correction⌋h or for his land,
or as loyal love, he lets it happen.
stand still and consider carefully God’s wondrous works.
15 Do you know ⌊how God commands them⌋i
and how he causes his cloud’s lightning to shine?
16 Do you know about the hovering of the clouds,
⌊the marvelous works of the one with perfect knowledge⌋?j
17 You whose garments are hot,
when the earth is being still because of the south wind,
18 with him can you spread out the skies,
hard as a molten mirror?
19 “Teach us what we should say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of the presence of darkness.
20 Should he be told that I want to speak?
Or did a man say that he would be communicated with?
21 So then, they do not look at the light when it is bright in the skies,
whenk the wind has passed and has cleansed them.
awesome majesty is around God.
23 As for Shaddai, we cannot attain him;
he is exalted in power,
and he does not oppress justice and abundant righteousness.
24 Therefore people revered him;
he does not regard anyl ⌊who think that they are wise⌋.”m
38 Thena Yahweh answered Job from the storm, and he said,
2 “Who is this darkening counsel
by words without knowledge?
3 ⌊Prepare yourself for a difficult task like a man⌋,b
and I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
4 “Where were you at my laying the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you possess understanding.
5 Who determined its measurement? Yes, you do know.
Or who stretched the measuring line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars were singing together
and all the sons of Godc shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut the sea in with doors
at its bursting, when it went out of the womb,
9 at my making the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and I prescribed my rule for it,
and I set bars and doors,
11 and I said, ‘You shall come up to here, butd you shall not go further,
and here it will set a boundary ⌊for your proud surging waves⌋’?e
12 “Have you ⌊ever in your life⌋f commanded the morning?
Have you made the dawn know its place,
13 to take hold of the earth’s skirts
so thatg the wicked might be shaken off from it?
14 It is changed like clay under a seal,
and they appear like a garment.
15 And their light is withheld from the wicked,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
16 “Have you entered into the sea’s sources?
Or have you walked around in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Or have you seen the gates of deep shadow?
18 Have you considered closely the earth’s vast expanse?
Declare it, if you know all of it.
19 “Where thenh is the way where the light dwells?
And where theni is its place,
20 that you may take it to its territory,
and that you might discern the paths to its home?
21 You know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great.
22 Have you entered into the storehouses of the snow,
orj have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
24 Where thenk is the way where the light is distributed,
where he scatters the east wind upon the earth?
25 “Who has cut open a channel for the torrents
and a way for the ⌊thunder bolts⌋,l
26 to bring rain on a land ⌊where no one lives⌋,m
a desert ⌊where no humans live⌋,n
27 to satisfy desert and wasteland,
and to cause the ground to put forth the rising of grass?
28 Is there a father for the rain,
or who fathered the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who fathered the frost of heaven?
30 Like stone the waters become hard,
and the faces of the deep freeze.
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,
or can you loosen the cords of Orion?
32 Can you lead forth the southern constellations at their appointed time,
oro can you lead the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know heaven’s statutes,
or can you establish their rule on the earth?
34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds
so thatp a flood of water may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go?
And will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the ibis,q
or who has given understanding to the rooster?r
37 Who can number the clouds with wisdom?
Ors who can tilt heaven’s jars,
38 at the flowing of the dust into a cast
and the clods cling together?
39 “Can you hunt prey for the lion?
And can you satisfy the hunger of strong lions
40 when they are crouched in the dens,
when they lie in the thicket in an ambush?
41 Who prepares for the crow its prey,
when its young ones cry to God for help,
and they wander around ⌊for lack of food⌋?t
39 “Do you know the time when the goats of the rocks give birth?
Do you observe the doe deer’s giving birth?
2 Can you number the months they fulfill,
and do you know the time of its giving birth?
3 When they crouch, they bring forth their young ones;
they get rid of their labor pains.a
4 Their young ones grow strong; they grow up in the open;
they go forth and do not return to them.
5 “Who has sent forth the wild ass free?
And who has released the wild donkey’s bonds,
6 to which I have given the wilderness as its house
and the salt flat as its dwelling place?
7 It scorns the city’s turmoil;
it does not hear the driver’s shouts.
8 It explores the mountains as its pasture
and searches after every kind of green plant.
9 “Is the wild ox willing to serve you,
or will he spend the night at your feeding trough?
10 Can you tie the wild ox with its rope to a furrow,
or will it harrow the valleys after you?
11 Can you trust it because its strength is great,
or will you hand your labor over to it?
12 Can you rely on it that it will return your grain
and that it will gather it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wingsb of the female ostrich flapc—
are theyd the pinions of the stork ore the falcon?
14 Indeed, it leaves its eggs to the earth,
and it lets them be warmed on the ground,
15 and it forgets that a foot might crush an egg,f
and ⌊a wild animal⌋g might trample it.h
16 It deals cruelly with its young ones, as if they were not its own,
as if without fear that its labor were in vain,
17 because God made it forget wisdom,
and he did not give it a share in understanding.
18 When it spreads its wings ⌊aloft⌋,i
it laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 “Do you give power to the horse?
Do you clothe its neck with a mane?
20 Do you make it leap like the locust?
The majesty of its snorting is terrifying.
21 They paw in the valley, and it exults with strength;
it goes out to meet the battle.
22 It laughs at danger and is not dismayed,
and it does not turn back from ⌊before⌋j the sword.
along with the flash of the spear and the short sword.
24 With roar and rage ⌊it races over the ground⌋,k
and it cannot stand still at the sound of the horn.
25 ⌊Whenever⌋l a horn sounds, it says, ‘Aha!’
And it smells the battle from a distance—
the thunder of the commanders and the war cry.
26 “Does the hawk soar by your wisdom?
Does it spread its wings to the south?
27 Or does the eagle fly high at your command
and construct its nest high?
28 It lives on the rock and spends the night
⌊on the rock point and the mountain stronghold⌋.m
29 From there it spies out the prey;
its eyes look from far away.
30 And its young ones lick blood greedily,
and where the dead carcasses are, there they are.”
40 Thena Yahweh answered Job and said,
2 “Shall a faultfinder contend with Shaddai?
Anyone who argues with God must answer it.”