Job 37  New Century Version

37 “At the sound of his thunder, my heart pounds
    as if it will jump out of my chest.
² Listen! Listen to the thunder of God’s voice
    and to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
³ He turns his lightning loose under the whole sky
    and sends it to the farthest parts of the earth.
⁴ After that you can hear the roar
    when he thunders with a great sound.
He does not hold back the flashing
    when his voice is heard.
⁵ God’s voice thunders in wonderful ways;
    he does great things we cannot understand.
⁶ He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
    and to the shower, ‘Be a heavy rain.’
⁷ With it, he stops everyone from working
    so everyone knows it is the work of God.
⁸ The animals take cover from the rain
    and stay in their dens.
⁹ The storm comes from where it was stored;
    the cold comes with the strong winds.
¹⁰ The breath of God makes ice,
    and the wide waters become frozen.
¹¹ He fills the clouds with water
    and scatters his lightning through them.
¹² At his command they swirl around
    over the whole earth,
    doing whatever he commands.
¹³ He uses the clouds to punish people
    or to water his earth and show his love.

¹⁴ “Job, listen to this:
    Stop and notice God’s miracles.
¹⁵ Do you know how God controls the clouds
    and makes his lightning flash?
¹⁶ Do you know how the clouds hang in the sky?
    Do you know the miracles of God, who knows everything?
¹⁷ You suffer in your clothes
    when the land is silenced by the hot, south wind.
¹⁸ You cannot stretch out the sky like God
    and make it look as hard as polished bronze.
¹⁹ Tell us what we should say to him;
    we cannot get our arguments ready because we do not have enough understanding.
²⁰ Should God be told that I want to speak?
    Would a person ask to be swallowed up?
²¹ No one can look at the sun
    when it is bright in the sky
    after the wind has blown all the clouds away.
²² God comes out of the north in golden light,
    in overwhelming greatness.
²³ The Almighty is too high for us to reach.
    He has great strength;
    he is always right and never punishes unfairly.
²⁴ That is why people honor him;
    he does not respect those who say they are wise.”