New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
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And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
2 "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
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Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
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Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.
4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
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Where were you when I put the earth on its base? Say, if you have knowledge.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
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By whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom; or by whom was the line stretched out over it?
6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone
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On what were its pillars based, or who put down its angle-stone,
7 when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
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When the morning stars made songs together, and all the sons of the gods gave cries of joy?
8 "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?—
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Or where were you when the sea came to birth, pushing out from its secret place;
9 when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,
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When I made the cloud its robe, and put thick clouds as bands round it,
10 and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,
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Ordering a fixed limit for it, with locks and doors;
11 and said, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'?
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And said, So far you may come, and no farther; and here the pride of your waves will be stopped?
12 "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,
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Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;
13 so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
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So that it might take a grip of the skirts of the earth, shaking all the evil-doers out of it?
14 It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.
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It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
15 Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken.
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And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.
16 "Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?
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Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
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Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?
18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.
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Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.
19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,
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Which is the way to the resting-place of the light, and where is the store-house of the dark;
20 that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?
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So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house?
21 Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
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No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.
22 "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
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Have you come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,
23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?
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Which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and fighting?
24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
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Which is the way to the place where the wind is measured out, and the east wind sent out over the earth?
25 "Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt,
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By whom has the way been cut for the flowing of the rain, and the flaming of the thunder;
26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life,
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Causing rain to come on a land where no man is living, on the waste land which has no people;
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?
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To give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass?
28 "Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?
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Has the rain a father? or who gave birth to the drops of night mist?
29 From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?
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Out of whose body came the ice? and who gave birth to the cold mist of heaven?
30 The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
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The waters are joined together, hard as a stone, and the face of the deep is covered.
31 "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion?
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Are the bands of the Pleiades fixed by you, or are the cords of Orion made loose?
32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?
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Do you make Mazzaroth come out in its right time, or are the Bear and its children guided by you?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?
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Have you knowledge of the laws of the heavens? did you give them rule over the earth?
34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?
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Is your voice sent up to the cloud, so that you may be covered by the weight of waters?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, "Here we are'?
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Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?
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Who has put wisdom in the high clouds, or given knowledge to the lights of the north?
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
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By whose wisdom are the clouds numbered, or the water-skins of the heavens turned to the earth,
38 when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together?
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When the earth becomes hard as metal, and is joined together in masses?
39 "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
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Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,
40 when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert?
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When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood?
41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?
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Who gives in the evening the meat he is searching for, when his young ones are crying to God; when the young lions with loud noise go wandering after their food?
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.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.