Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?

Gird up now your loins like a mighty man; For I will ask of you, and you shall inform Me.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.

Who set its measurements-if you know? Or who stretched the measuring line over it?

Onto 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?

And who hedged in the sea with doors When it burst forth, issuing from the womb,

When I made clouds its clothing And deep darkness its swaddling clothes,

And I broke out My boundaries for it And set up bars and doors,

And I said, To here you shall come and no farther, And here shall your proud waves be stopped?

Have you ever commanded the morning since your days began? Have you ever caused the dawn to know its place,

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

The earth is changed like clay under a seal, And all things on it stand forth like a garment.

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

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

Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Have you comprehended the full expanse of the earth? Declare it, if you know it all.

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

That you may take it to its boundary, And that you may perceive the paths to its house?

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

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

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

Where is the way to the place where the light is divided, To the place where the east wind scatters upon the earth?

Who cut a channel for the rain torrent, Or a way for the thunderbolt,

To make it rain on a land where no man is, On a wilderness in which there is no man;

To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to cause the shoots of grass to sprout?

Does the rain have a father? Or who begot the drops of dew?

From whose womb does the ice come forth? And the frost of heaven, who gave birth to it?

The waters hide themselves and become like stone, And the surface of the deep is frozen.

Can you fasten the bands of the Pleiades, Or loosen the cords of Orion?

Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with its cubs?

Do you know the laws of the heavens? Do you establish their rule on the earth?

Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that a flood of water would cover you?

Can you send forth lightnings, so that they would go And say to you, Here we are?

Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, Or given understanding to the mind?

Who can number the clouds by wisdom, Or who can tip over the water jars of heaven,

When the dust runs into a mass And the clods stick together?

Can you hunt prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

When they crouch in their dens, When they lie in wait in the thicket?

Who provides for the raven its prey When its young ones cry out to God And wander about for lack of food?