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2“Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?

3Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

4“Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.

5Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—

7while the morning stars sang together
and all the angelsHebrew the sons of God shouted for joy?

8“Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,

9when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,

10when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,

11when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?

12“Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,

13that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?

14The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.

15The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.

16“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of deathOr gates of deep shadows?

18Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.

19“What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?

20Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

21Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!

22“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,

23which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?

24What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

25Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,

26to water a land where no man lives,
a desert with no one in it,

27to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?

28Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?

29From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

30when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?

31“Can you bind the beautifulOr the twinkling; or the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loose the cords of Orion?

32Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasonsOr the morning star in its season
or lead out the BearOr out Leo with its cubs?

33Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God'sOr his; or their dominion over the earth?

34“Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?

35Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?

36Who endowed the heartThe meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. with wisdom
or gave understanding to the mindThe meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.?

37Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

38when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?

39“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions

40when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?

41Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?

2Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?

3They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.

4Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.

5“Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied his ropes?

6I gave him the wasteland as his home,
the salt flats as his habitat.

7He laughs at the commotion in the town;
he does not hear a driver's shout.

8He ranges the hills for his pasture
and searches for any green thing.

9“Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will he stay by your manger at night?

10Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?
Will he till the valleys behind you?

11Will you rely on him for his great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to him?

12Can you trust him to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?

20Do you make him leap like a locust,
striking terror with his proud snorting?

21He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,
and charges into the fray.

22He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
he does not shy away from the sword.

23The quiver rattles against his side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.

24In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;
he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

25At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, ‘Aha!’
He catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

26“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread his wings toward the south?

27Does the eagle soar at your command
and build his nest on high?

28He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is his stronghold.

29From there he seeks out his food;
his eyes detect it from afar.

30His young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there is he.”

2“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”

3Then Job answered the Lord:

4“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.

5I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”

6Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:

7“Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

8“Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

9Do you have an arm like God's,
and can your voice thunder like his?

10Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.

11Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at every proud man and bring him low,

12look at every proud man and humble him,
crush the wicked where they stand.

13Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.

14Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.

15“Look at the behemoth,Possibly the hippopotamus or the elephant
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.

16What strength he has in his loins,
what power in the muscles of his belly!

17His tailPossibly trunk sways like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are close-knit.

18His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like rods of iron.

19He ranks first among the works of God,
yet his Maker can approach him with his sword.

20The hills bring him their produce,
and all the wild animals play nearby.

21Under the lotus plants he lies,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.

22The lotuses conceal him in their shadow;
the poplars by the stream surround him.

23When the river rages, he is not alarmed;
he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth.

24Can anyone capture him by the eyes,Or by a water hole
or trap him and pierce his nose?

2Can you put a cord through his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?

3Will he keep begging you for mercy?
Will he speak to you with gentle words?

4Will he make an agreement with you
for you to take him as your slave for life?

5Can you make a pet of him like a bird
or put him on a leash for your girls?

6Will traders barter for him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?

7Can you fill his hide with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?

8If you lay a hand on him,
you will remember the struggle and never do it again!

9Any hope of subduing him is false;
the mere sight of him is overpowering.

10No one is fierce enough to rouse him.
Who then is able to stand against me?

11Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.

12“I will not fail to speak of his limbs,
his strength and his graceful form.

13Who can strip off his outer coat?
Who would approach him with a bridle?

14Who dares open the doors of his mouth,
ringed about with his fearsome teeth?

15His back hasOr His pride is his rows of shields
tightly sealed together;

16each is so close to the next
that no air can pass between.

17They are joined fast to one another;
they cling together and cannot be parted.

18His snorting throws out flashes of light;
his eyes are like the rays of dawn.

19Firebrands stream from his mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.

20Smoke pours from his nostrils
as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.

21His breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames dart from his mouth.

22Strength resides in his neck;
dismay goes before him.

23The folds of his flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm and immovable.

24His chest is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.

25When he rises up, the mighty are terrified;
they retreat before his thrashing.

26The sword that reaches him has no effect,
nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.

27Iron he treats like straw
and bronze like rotten wood.

28Arrows do not make him flee;
slingstones are like chaff to him.

29A club seems to him but a piece of straw;
he laughs at the rattling of the lance.

30His undersides are jagged potsherds,
leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.

31He makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.

32Behind him he leaves a glistening wake;
one would think the deep had white hair.

33Nothing on earth is his equal—
a creature without fear.

34He looks down on all that are haughty;
he is king over all that are proud.”