⁷ “Were you the first person ever born?
    Were you born before the hills were made?

² Before the mountains were born,
    before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
    from beginning to end, you are God.

²² “The Lord formed me from the beginning,
    before he created anything else.
²³ I was appointed in ages past,
    at the very first, before the earth began.
²⁴ I was born before the oceans were created,
    before the springs bubbled forth their waters.
²⁵ Before the mountains were formed,
    before the hills, I was born—

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
    Tell me, if you know so much.
⁵ Who determined its dimensions
    and stretched out the surveying line?
⁶ What supports its foundations,
    and who laid its cornerstone
⁷ as the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels^[a] shouted for joy?

⁸ “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
    as it burst from the womb,
⁹ and as I clothed it with clouds
    and wrapped it in thick darkness?
¹⁰ For I locked it behind barred gates,
    limiting its shores.
¹¹ I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
    Here your proud waves must stop!’

¹² “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
    and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
¹³ Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
    to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
¹⁴ As the light approaches,
    the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
    it is robed in brilliant colors.^[b]
15 The light disturbs the wicked
    and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

¹⁶ “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
    Have you explored their depths?
¹⁷ Do you know where the gates of death are located?
    Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
¹⁸ Do you realize the extent of the earth?
    Tell me about it if you know!

¹⁹ “Where does light come from,
    and where does darkness go?
²⁰ Can you take each to its home?
    Do you know how to get there?
²¹ But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
    and you are so very experienced!

²² “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow
    or seen the storehouses of hail?
²³ (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble,
    for the day of battle and war.)
²⁴ Where is the path to the source of light?
    Where is the home of the east wind?

²⁵ “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain?
    Who laid out the path for the lightning?
²⁶ Who makes the rain fall on barren land,
    in a desert where no one lives?
²⁷ Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground
    and make the tender grass spring up?

²⁸ “Does the rain have a father?
    Who gives birth to the dew?
²⁹ Who is the mother of the ice?
    Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?
³⁰ For the water turns to ice as hard as rock,
    and the surface of the water freezes.

³¹ “Can you direct the movement of the stars—
    binding the cluster of the Pleiades
    or loosening the cords of Orion?
³² Can you direct the constellations through the seasons
    or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
³³ Do you know the laws of the universe?
    Can you use them to regulate the earth?

³⁴ “Can you shout to the clouds
    and make it rain?
³⁵ Can you make lightning appear
    and cause it to strike as you direct?
³⁶ Who gives intuition to the heart
    and instinct to the mind?
³⁷ Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?
    Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
³⁸ when the parched ground is dry
    and the soil has hardened into clods?

³⁹ “Can you stalk prey for a lioness
    and satisfy the young lions’ appetites
⁴⁰ as they lie in their dens
    or crouch in the thicket?
⁴¹ Who provides food for the ravens
    when their young cry out to God
    and wander about in hunger?

¹⁰ On our side are aged, gray-haired men
    much older than your father!

¹² Wisdom belongs to the aged,
    and understanding to the old.