[1] Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
[2] “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
[3] “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.
[4] “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
[5] “Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
[6] “On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,
[7] “when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
[8] “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb,
[9] “when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band,
[10] “and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors,
[11] “and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
[12] “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,
[13] “that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
[14] “It is changed like clay under the seal, and its features stand out like a garment.
[15] “From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken.
[16] “Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?
[17] “Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
[18] “Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.
[19] “Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,
[20] “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, 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,
[23] “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 light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
[25] “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and a way for the thunderbolt,
[26] “to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man,
[27] “to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass?
[28] “Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?
[29] “From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
[30] “The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
[31] “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?
[32] “Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?
[33] “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?
[34] “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you?
[35] “Can you send forth lightnings, 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?
[37] “Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
[38] “when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together?
[39] “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 their thicket?
[41] “Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?