The Book of Job

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

"Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?

"Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell [Me,] if you have understanding,

Who set its measurements, since you know? Or who stretched the line on it?

"On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,

When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band,

And I placed boundaries on it, And I set a bolt and doors,

And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop'?

"Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, [And] caused the dawn to know its place;

That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?

"It is changed like clay [under] the seal; And they stand forth like a garment.

"And from the wicked their light is withheld, And the uplifted arm is broken.

"Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?

"Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

"Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell [Me,] if you know all this.

"Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,

That you may take it to its territory, And that you may discern the paths to its home?

"You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!

"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle?

"Where is the way that the light is divided, [Or] the east wind scattered on the earth?

"Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt;

To bring rain on a land without people, [On] a desert without a man in it,

To satisfy the waste and desolate land, And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

"Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

"From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

"Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

"Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion?

"Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?

"Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?

"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water may cover you?

"Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'?

"Who has put wisdom in the innermost being, Or has given understanding to the mind?

"Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or tip the water jars of the heavens,

When the dust hardens into a mass, And the clods stick together?