¹⁹ “Tell us what we should say to him;^(A)
    we cannot draw up our case^(B) because of our darkness.^(C)

² Surely I am only a brute, not a man;
    I do not have human understanding.
³ I have not learned wisdom,
    nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.^(A)
4 Who has gone up^(B) to heaven and come down?
    Whose hands^(C) have gathered up the wind?
Who has wrapped up the waters^(D) in a cloak?^(E)
    Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name,^(F) and what is the name of his son?
    Surely you know!

²² I was senseless^(A) and ignorant;
    I was a brute beast^(B) before you.

¹⁶ When I tried to understand^(A) all this,
    it troubled me deeply
¹⁷ till I entered the sanctuary^(B) of God;
    then I understood their final destiny.^(C)

³ You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’^(A)
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.^(B)

² “Who is this that obscures my plans^(A)
    with words without knowledge?^(B)