Job 36-38

English Standard Version

² “Bear with me a little, and I will show you,
    for I have yet something to say on God's behalf.
³ I will get my knowledge from ^(A)afar
    and ascribe ^(B)righteousness to my ^(C)Maker.
⁴ For truly my words are not false;
    one who is ^(D)perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵ “Behold, God is mighty, and ^(E)does not despise any;
    he is ^(F)mighty in strength of understanding.
⁶ He does not keep the wicked alive,
    but gives ^(G)the afflicted their right.
⁷ He does not withdraw his ^(H)eyes from the righteous,
    but with ^(I)kings on the throne
    he sets them forever, and they are ^(J)exalted.
⁸ And if they are ^(K)bound in chains
    and caught in the cords of affliction,
⁹ then he declares to them their work
    and their transgressions, that they are ^(L)behaving arrogantly.
¹⁰ He ^(M)opens their ears to instruction
    and commands that they ^(N)return from iniquity.
^11 (O)If they listen and serve him,
    they ^(P)complete their days in prosperity,
    and their years in pleasantness.
¹² But if they do not listen, they ^(Q)perish by the sword
    and die ^(R)without knowledge.

¹³ “The ^(S)godless in heart cherish anger;
    they do not cry for help when he ^(T)binds them.
¹⁴ They ^(U)die in youth,
    and their life ends among the cult prostitutes.
¹⁵ He delivers ^(V)the afflicted by their affliction
    and ^(W)opens their ear by adversity.
¹⁶ He also allured you out of distress
    into ^(X)a broad place where there was no cramping,
    and what was set on your ^(Y)table was full of ^(Z)fatness.

¹⁷ “But you are full of the judgment on the wicked;
    judgment and justice seize you.
¹⁸ Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing,
    and let not the greatness of ^(AA)the ransom turn you aside.
¹⁹ Will your ^(AB)cry for help avail to keep you from distress,
    or all the force of your strength?
²⁰ Do not long for ^(AC)the night,
    when peoples vanish ^(AD)in their place.
²¹ Take care; ^(AE)do not turn to iniquity,
    for this you have chosen rather than affliction.
²² Behold, God is exalted in his power;
    who is ^(AF)a teacher like him?
²³ Who has ^(AG)prescribed for him his way,
    or who can say, ^(AH)‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴ “Remember to ^(AI)extol his work,
    of which men have ^(AJ)sung.
²⁵ All mankind has looked on it;
    man beholds it from afar.
²⁶ Behold, God is great, and we ^(AK)know him not;
    the number of his ^(AL)years is unsearchable.
²⁷ For he draws up the drops of water;
    they distill his ^(AM)mist in ^(AN)rain,
²⁸ which ^(AO)the skies pour down
    and drop on mankind abundantly.
²⁹ Can anyone understand ^(AP)the spreading of the clouds,
    the thunderings of his ^(AQ)pavilion?
³⁰ Behold, he scatters his lightning about him
    and covers the roots of the sea.
³¹ For by these he ^(AR)judges peoples;
    he gives ^(AS)food in abundance.
³² He covers his ^(AT)hands with the lightning
    and commands it to strike the mark.
³³ Its crashing declares his presence;^[a]
    the cattle also declare that he rises.

¹⁴ “Hear this, O Job;
    stop and ^(BR)consider the wondrous works of God.
¹⁵ Do you know how God lays his command upon them
    and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
¹⁶ Do you know the balancings^[c] of the clouds,
    the wondrous works of him who is ^(BS)perfect in knowledge,
¹⁷ you whose garments are hot
    when the earth is still because of the south wind?
¹⁸ Can you, like him, ^(BT)spread out the skies,
    hard as a cast metal ^(BU)mirror?
¹⁹ Teach us what we shall say to him;
    we cannot draw up our case because of ^(BV)darkness.
²⁰ Shall it be told him that I would speak?
    Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?

²¹ “And now no one looks on the light
    when it is bright in the skies,
    when the wind has passed and cleared them.
²² Out of the north comes golden splendor;
    God is clothed with ^(BW)awesome majesty.
²³ The Almighty—we ^(BX)cannot find him;
    he is ^(BY)great in power;
    ^(BZ)justice and abundant righteousness he will not ^(CA)violate.
²⁴ Therefore men ^(CB)fear him;
    he does not regard any who are ^(CC)wise in their own conceit.”^[d]

² “Who is this that ^(CE)darkens counsel by words ^(CF)without knowledge?
^3 (CG)Dress for action^[e] like a man;
    I will question you, and you make it known to me.

⁴ “Where were you when I ^(CH)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 ^(CI)sang together
    and all ^(CJ)the sons of God ^(CK)shouted for joy?

⁸ “Or who ^(CL)shut in the sea with doors
    when it burst out from the womb,
⁹ when I made clouds its garment
    and ^(CM)thick darkness its swaddling band,
¹⁰ and prescribed ^(CN)limits for it
    and set bars and doors,
¹¹ and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
    and here shall your ^(CO)proud waves be stayed’?

¹² “Have you ^(CP)commanded the morning since your days began,
    and caused the dawn to know its place,
¹³ that it might take hold of ^(CQ)the skirts of the earth,
    and the wicked be ^(CR)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 ^(CS)light is withheld,
    and ^(CT)their uplifted arm is broken.

¹⁶ “Have you ^(CU)entered into the springs of the sea,
    or walked in the recesses of the deep?
¹⁷ Have ^(CV)the gates of death been revealed to you,
    or have you seen the gates of ^(CW)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 ^(CX)the paths to its home?
²¹ You know, for ^(CY)you were born then,
    and the number of your days is great!

²² “Have you entered ^(CZ)the storehouses of the snow,
    or have you seen ^(DA)the storehouses of the hail,
²³ which I have reserved ^(DB)for the time of trouble,
    ^(DC)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 ^(DD)a way for the thunderbolt,
²⁶ to bring rain on ^(DE)a land where no man is,
    on ^(DF)the desert in which there is no man,
²⁷ to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
    and to make the ground sprout with ^(DG)grass?

²⁸ “Has ^(DH)the rain a father,
    or who has begotten the drops of dew?
²⁹ From whose womb did ^(DI)the ice come forth,
    and who has given birth to ^(DJ)the frost of heaven?
³⁰ The waters become hard like stone,
    and the face of the deep is ^(DK)frozen.

³¹ “Can you bind the chains of ^(DL)the Pleiades
    or loose the cords of ^(DM)Orion?
³² Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth^[f] in their season,
    or can you guide ^(DN)the Bear with its children?
³³ Do you know ^(DO)the ordinances of the heavens?
    Can you establish their rule on the earth?

³⁴ “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
    that ^(DP)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 ^(DQ)put wisdom in ^(DR)the inward parts^[g]
    or given understanding to the mind?^[h]
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 ^(DS)the clods stick fast together?

³⁹ “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
    or ^(DT)satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
⁴⁰ when they crouch in their ^(DU)dens
    or lie in wait ^(DV)in their thicket?
⁴¹ Who provides for ^(DW)the raven its prey,
    when its young ones cry to God for help,
    and wander about for lack of food?