New International Version NIV
New Revised Standard NRS
1 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
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Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?
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"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer 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 foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
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"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across 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 set, or 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 together and all the angels shouted for joy?
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when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up 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 and wrapped it in thick darkness,
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when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,
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and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?
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and said, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,
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"Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the 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 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.
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It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.
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Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken.
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses 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 the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest 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 comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
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Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?
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"Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,
20 Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
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that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!
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Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,
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"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?
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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 the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the 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 cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
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"Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt,
26 to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert,
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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 satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?
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to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?
28 Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?
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"Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
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From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?
30 when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?
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The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
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"Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasonsor lead out the Bear with its 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 the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?
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Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?
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"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
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Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, "Here we are'?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdomor gives the rooster understanding?
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Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
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Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?
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when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together?
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
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"Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
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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 out to God and wander about for lack of 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?
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
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.