Common English Bible CEB
New Revised Standard NRS
1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
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Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 Who is this darkening counsel with words lacking knowledge?
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"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Prepare yourself like a man; I will interrogate you, and you will respond to me.
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Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
4 Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tell me if you know.
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"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who set its measurements? Surely you know. Who stretched a measuring tape on it?
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Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its footings sunk; who laid its cornerstone,
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On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone
7 while the morning stars sang in unison and all the divine beings shouted?
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when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
8 Who enclosed the Sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
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"Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?—
9 when I made the clouds its garment, the dense clouds its wrap,
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when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 when I imposed my limit for it, put on a bar and doors
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and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,
11 and said, "You may come this far, no farther; here your proud waves stop"?
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and said, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'?
12 In your lifetime have you commanded the morning, informed the dawn of its place
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"Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 so it would take hold of earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it?
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so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 Do you turn it over like clay for a seal, so it stands out like a colorful garment?
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It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.
15 Light is withheld from the wicked, the uplifted arm broken.
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Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken.
16 Have you gone to the sea's sources, walked in the chamber of the deep?
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"Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have death's gates been revealed to you; can you see the gates of deep darkness?
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Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you surveyed earth's expanses? Tell me if you know everything about it.
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Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.
19 Where's the road to the place where light dwells; darkness, where's it located?
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"Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,
20 Can you take it to its territory; do you know the paths to its house?
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that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21 You know, for you were born then; you have lived such a long time!
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Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
22 Have you gone to snow's storehouses, seen the storehouses of hail
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"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 that I have reserved for a time of distress, for a day of battle and war?
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which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?
24 What is the way to the place where light is divided up; the east wind scattered over earth?
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What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
25 Who cut a channel for the downpours and a way for blasts of thunder
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"Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt,
26 to bring water to uninhabited land, a desert with no human
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to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life,
27 to saturate dry wasteland and make grass sprout?
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to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?
28 Has the rain a father who brought forth drops of dew?
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"Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 From whose belly does ice come; who gave birth to heaven's frost?
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From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?
30 Water hardens like stone; the surface of the deep thickens.
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The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 Can you bind Pleiades' chains or loosen the reins of Orion?
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"Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you guide the stars at their proper times, lead the Bear with her cubs?
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Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know heaven's laws, or can you impose its rule on earth?
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Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?
34 Can you issue an order to the clouds so their abundant waters cover you?
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"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send lightning so that it goes and then says to you, "I'm here"?
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Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, "Here we are'?
36 Who put wisdom in remote places, or who gave understanding to a rooster?
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Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds, and who can tilt heaven's water containers
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Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 so that dust becomes mud and clods of dirt adhere?
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when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together?
39 Can you hunt prey for the lion or fill the cravings of lion cubs?
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"Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 They lie in their den, lie in ambush in their lair.
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when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert?
41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry to God, move about without food?
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Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.