² “Who do you think you are to disagree with my plans?
    You do not know what you are talking about.
³ Get ready to stand up for yourself.
    I will ask you some questions.
    Then I want you to answer me.

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
    Tell me, if you know.
⁵ Who measured it? I am sure you know!
    Who stretched a measuring line across it?
⁶ What was it built on?
    Who laid its most important stone?
⁷ When it happened, the morning stars sang together.
    All the angels shouted with joy.

⁸ “Who created the ocean?
    Who caused it to be born?
⁹ I put clouds over it as if they were its clothes.
    I wrapped it in thick darkness.
¹⁰ I set limits for it.
    I put its doors and metal bars in place.
¹¹ I said, ‘You can come this far.
    But you can’t come any farther.
    Here is where your proud waves have to stop.’

¹² “Job, have you ever commanded the morning to come?
    Have you ever shown the sun where to rise?
¹³ The daylight takes the earth by its edges
    as if it were a blanket.
    Then it shakes sinful people out of it.
¹⁴ The earth takes shape like clay stamped with an official’s mark.
    Its features stand out
    like the different parts of your clothes.
¹⁵ Sinners would rather have darkness than light.
    When the light comes, their power is broken.

¹⁶ “Have you traveled to the springs at the bottom of the ocean?
    Have you walked in its deepest parts?
¹⁷ Have the gates of death been shown to you?
    Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
¹⁸ Do you understand how big the earth is?
    Tell me, if you know all these things.

¹⁹ “Where does light come from?
    And where does darkness live?
²⁰ Can you take them to their places?
    Do you know the paths to their houses?
²¹ I am sure you know! After all, you were already born!
    You have lived so many years!

²² “Have you entered the places where the snow is kept?
    Have you seen the storerooms for the hail?
²³ I store up snow and hail for times of trouble.
    I keep them for days of war and battle.
²⁴ Where does lightning come from?
    Where do the east winds live that blow across the earth?
²⁵ Who tells the rain where it should fall?
    Who makes paths for the thunderstorms?
²⁶ They bring water to places where no one lives.
    They water deserts that do not have anyone in them.
²⁷ They satisfy the needs of dry and empty lands.
    They make grass start growing there.
²⁸ Does the rain have a father?
    Who is the father of the drops of dew?
²⁹ Does the ice have a mother?
    Who is the mother of the frost from the heavens?
³⁰ The waters become as hard as stone.
    The surface of the ocean freezes over.

³¹ “Can you tie up the cords of the Pleiades?
    Can you untie the belt that Orion wears?
³² Can you bring out all the stars in their seasons?
    Can you lead out the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper?
³³ Do you know the laws that govern the heavens?
    Can you rule over the earth the way I do?

³⁴ “Can you give orders to the clouds?
    Can you make them pour rain down on you?
³⁵ Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
    Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
³⁶ Who gives the ibis wisdom?
    Who gives the rooster understanding?
³⁷ Who is wise enough to count the clouds?
    Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens?
³⁸ I tip them over when the ground becomes hard.
    I do it when the dirt sticks together.

³⁹ “Do you hunt for food for mother lions?
    Do you satisfy the hunger of their cubs?
⁴⁰ Some of them lie low in their dens.
    Others lie waiting in the bushes.
⁴¹ Who provides food for ravens
    when their babies cry out to me?
    They wander around because they do not have anything to eat.