New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
1
Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?
2
Who is this darkening counsel with words lacking knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.
3
Prepare yourself like a man; I will interrogate you, and you will respond to me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.
4
Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tell me if you know.
5 Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?
5
Who set its measurements? Surely you know. Who stretched a measuring tape on it?
6 What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone
6
On what were its footings sunk; who laid its cornerstone,
7 as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
7
while the morning stars sang in unison and all the divine beings shouted?
8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb,
8
Who enclosed the Sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
9 and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness?
9
when I made the clouds its garment, the dense clouds its wrap,
10 For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores.
10
when I imposed my limit for it, put on a bar and doors
11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’
11
and said, "You may come this far, no farther; here your proud waves stop"?
12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
12
In your lifetime have you commanded the morning, informed the dawn of its place
13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
13
so it would take hold of earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it?
14 As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors.
14
Do you turn it over like clay for a seal, so it stands out like a colorful garment?
15 The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence.
15
Light is withheld from the wicked, the uplifted arm broken.
16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths?
16
Have you gone to the sea's sources, walked in the chamber of the deep?
17 Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
17
Have death's gates been revealed to you; can you see the gates of deep darkness?
18 Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!
18
Have you surveyed earth's expanses? Tell me if you know everything about it.
19 “Where does light come from, and where does darkness go?
19
Where's the road to the place where light dwells; darkness, where's it located?
20 Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?
20
Can you take it to its territory; do you know the paths to its house?
21 But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!
21
You know, for you were born then; you have lived such a long time!
22 “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail?
22
Have you gone to snow's storehouses, seen the storehouses of hail
23 (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.)
23
that I have reserved for a time of distress, for a day of battle and war?
24 Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind?
24
What is the way to the place where light is divided up; the east wind scattered over earth?
25 “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?
25
Who cut a channel for the downpours and a way for blasts of thunder
26 Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?
26
to bring water to uninhabited land, a desert with no human
27 Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up?
27
to saturate dry wasteland and make grass sprout?
28 “Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew?
28
Has the rain a father who brought forth drops of dew?
29 Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?
29
From whose belly does ice come; who gave birth to heaven's frost?
30 For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes.
30
Water hardens like stone; the surface of the deep thickens.
31 “Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?
31
Can you bind Pleiades' chains or loosen the reins of Orion?
32 Can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
32
Can you guide the stars at their proper times, lead the Bear with her cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?
33
Do you know heaven's laws, or can you impose its rule on earth?
34 “Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?
34
Can you issue an order to the clouds so their abundant waters cover you?
35 Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct?
35
Can you send lightning so that it goes and then says to you, "I'm here"?
36 Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind?
36
Who put wisdom in remote places, or who gave understanding to a rooster?
37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
37
Who is wise enough to count the clouds, and who can tilt heaven's water containers
38 when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods?
38
so that dust becomes mud and clods of dirt adhere?
39 “Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions’ appetites
39
Can you hunt prey for the lion or fill the cravings of lion cubs?
40 as they lie in their dens or crouch in the thicket?
40
They lie in their den, lie in ambush in their lair.
41 Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God and wander about in hunger?
41
Who provides food for the raven when its young cry to God, move about without food?
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible