New Century Version NCV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 "At the sound of his thunder, my heart pounds as if it will jump out of my chest.
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"At this, my own heart trembles and leaps out of its place.
2 Listen! Listen to the thunder of God's voice and to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
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Just listen to the rumbling of his voice, to the thunder that comes from his mouth!
3 He turns his lightning loose under the whole sky and sends it to the farthest parts of the earth.
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He sends it out under all of heaven, his lightning to the ends of the earth.
4 After that you can hear the roar when he thunders with a great sound. He does not hold back the flashing when his voice is heard.
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There follows a sound, a roar -he is thundering with his majestic voice, and he keeps releasing [the lightning] even while his voice is being heard.
5 God's voice thunders in wonderful ways; he does great things we cannot understand.
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"God thunders wonderfully with his voice, he does great things beyond our understanding.
6 He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the shower, 'Be a heavy rain.'
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He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth!'-likewise to the light rain, also to the downpour.
7 With it, he stops everyone from working so everyone knows it is the work of God.
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He brings all human activity to a stop, so that everyone he has made can know it.
8 The animals take cover from the rain and stay in their dens.
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Then the animals go into their lairs and hibernate in their dens.
9 The storm comes from where it was stored; the cold comes with the strong winds.
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"Out of its chamber comes the storm, with cold out of the north.
10 The breath of God makes ice, and the wide waters become frozen.
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By the breath of God, ice is given, and the wide waters freeze over.
11 He fills the clouds with water and scatters his lightning through them.
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He weighs the clouds down with moisture, and they flash forth his lightning.
12 At his command they swirl around over the whole earth, doing whatever he commands.
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He, by his plans, turns them around, so they do what he commands them anywhere on earth;
13 He uses the clouds to punish people or to water his earth and show his love.
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he brings them forth on the earth sometimes to punish, sometimes to express his grace.
14 "Job, listen to this: Stop and notice God's miracles.
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"Listen to this, Iyov! Stop, and consider God's wonders.
15 Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash?
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Do you know how God puts them in place, how he causes lightning to flash from his cloud?
16 Do you know how the clouds hang in the sky? Do you know the miracles of God, who knows everything?
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Do you know how he balances the clouds? These are marvels of him who knows everything!
17 You suffer in your clothes when the land is silenced by the hot, south wind.
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"You, sweltering in your clothing as the earth lies still under a sultry south wind,
18 You cannot stretch out the sky like God and make it look as hard as polished bronze.
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can you, with him, spread out the sky, hard as a cast metal mirror?
19 Tell us what we should say to him; we cannot get our arguments ready because we do not have enough understanding.
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Teach us what we should tell him, for the darkness keeps us from organizing our case.
20 Should God be told that I want to speak? Would a person ask to be swallowed up?
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Is he to be told that I will speak? Can a man speak at all when he is already swallowed up?
21 No one can look at the sun when it is bright in the sky after the wind has blown all the clouds away.
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Now people don't see the light, which is bright in the sky; but then the wind blows and clears [the clouds] away.
22 God comes out of the north in golden light, in overwhelming greatness.
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Out of the north comes a golden glow, fearsome majesty surrounding God.
23 The Almighty is too high for us to reach. He has great strength; he is always right and never punishes unfairly.
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Shaddai, whom we cannot find, whose power is immense, in his great righteousness does not pervert justice.
24 That is why people honor him; he does not respect those who say they are wise."
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This is why people fear him; he does not consider those who think of themselves as wise."
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.