² “Who is this that obscures my plans^(C)
    with words without knowledge?^(D)
3 Brace yourself like a man;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.^(E)

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?^(F)
    Tell me, if you understand.^(G)
5 Who marked off its dimensions?^(H) Surely you know!
    Who stretched a measuring line^(I) across it?
⁶ On what were its footings set,^(J)
    or who laid its cornerstone^(K)—
⁷ while the morning stars^(L) sang together^(M)
    and all the angels^[a](N) shouted for joy?^(O)

⁸ “Who shut up the sea behind doors^(P)
    when it burst forth from the womb,^(Q)
9 when I made the clouds its garment
    and wrapped it in thick darkness,^(R)
10 when I fixed limits for it^(S)
    and set its doors and bars in place,^(T)
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;^(U)
    here is where your proud waves halt’?^(V)

¹² “Have you ever given orders to the morning,^(W)
    or shown the dawn its place,^(X)
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
    and shake the wicked^(Y) out of it?^(Z)
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;^(AA)
    its features stand out like those of a garment.
¹⁵ The wicked are denied their light,^(AB)
    and their upraised arm is broken.^(AC)

¹⁶ “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
    or walked in the recesses of the deep?^(AD)
17 Have the gates of death^(AE) been shown to you?
    Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?^(AF)
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?^(AG)
    Tell me, if you know all this.^(AH)

¹⁹ “What is the way to the abode of light?
    And where does darkness reside?^(AI)
20 Can you take them to their places?
    Do you know the paths^(AJ) to their dwellings?
²¹ Surely you know, for you were already born!^(AK)
    You have lived so many years!

²² “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow^(AL)
    or seen the storehouses^(AM) of the hail,^(AN)
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,^(AO)
    for days of war and battle?^(AP)
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,^(AQ)
    or the place where the east winds^(AR) are scattered over the earth?^(AS)
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
    and a path for the thunderstorm,^(AT)
26 to water^(AU) a land where no one lives,
    an uninhabited desert,^(AV)
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
    and make it sprout with grass?^(AW)
28 Does the rain have a father?^(AX)
    Who fathers the drops of dew?
²⁹ From whose womb comes the ice?
    Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens^(AY)
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
    when the surface of the deep is frozen?^(AZ)

³¹ “Can you bind the chains^[b] of the Pleiades?
    Can you loosen Orion’s belt?^(BA)
32 Can you bring forth the constellations^(BB) in their seasons^[c]
    or lead out the Bear^[d] with its cubs?^(BC)
33 Do you know the laws^(BD) of the heavens?^(BE)
    Can you set up God’s^[e] dominion over the earth?

² “I know that you can do all things;^(A)
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.^(B)
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’^(C)
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.^(D)

⁴ “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.’^(E)
5 My ears had heard of you^(F)
    but now my eyes have seen you.^(G)
6 Therefore I despise myself^(H)
    and repent^(I) in dust and ashes.”^(J)