² Who is this that darkeneth counsel
By words without knowledge?
³ Gird up now thy loins like a man;
For I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
⁴ Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, ^[a]if thou hast understanding.
⁵ Who determined the measures thereof, ^[b]if thou knowest?
Or who stretched the line upon it?
⁶ Whereupon were the ^[c]foundations thereof ^[d]fastened?
Or who laid the corner-stone thereof,
⁷ When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸ Or who shut up the sea with doors,
When it brake forth, ^[e]as if it had issued out of the womb;
⁹ When I made clouds the garment thereof,
And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,
¹⁰ And ^[f]marked out for it my bound,
And set bars and doors,
¹¹ And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;
And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

¹² Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began,
And caused the dayspring to know its place;
¹³ That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
And the wicked be shaken out of it?
¹⁴ It is changed as clay under the seal;
And all things stand forth ^[g]as a garment:
¹⁵ And from the wicked their light is withholden,
And the high arm is broken.

¹⁶ Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
Or hast thou walked in the ^[h]recesses of the deep?
¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?
Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
¹⁸ Hast thou comprehended the earth in its breadth?
Declare, if thou knowest it all.

¹⁹ Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
And as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
²⁰ That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,
And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?
²¹ Doubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born,
And the number of thy days is great!
²² Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow,
Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
²³ Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
Against the day of battle and war?
^24 [i]By what way is the light parted,
Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?

²⁵ Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood,
Or the way for the lightning of the thunder;
²⁶ To cause it to rain on a land where no man is;
On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
²⁷ To satisfy the waste and desolate ground,
And to cause the ^[j]tender grass to spring forth?
²⁸ Hath the rain a father?
Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
²⁹ Out of whose womb came the ice?
And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath ^[k]gendered it?
³⁰ The waters ^[l]hide themselves and become like stone,
And the face of the deep ^[m]is frozen.

³¹ Canst thou bind the ^[n]cluster of the Pleiades,
Or loose the bands of Orion?
³² Canst thou lead forth ^[o]the Mazzaroth in their season?
Or canst thou guide the Bear with her ^[p]train?
³³ Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens?
Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?

³⁴ Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,
That abundance of waters may cover thee?
³⁵ Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go,
And say unto thee, Here we are?
³⁶ Who hath put wisdom in the ^[q]inward parts?
Or who hath given understanding to the ^[r]mind?
³⁷ Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can ^[s]pour out the bottles of heaven,
³⁸ When the dust runneth into a mass,
And the clods cleave fast together?

³⁹ Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness,
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
⁴⁰ When they couch in their dens,
And abide in the covert to lie in wait?
⁴¹ Who provideth for the raven his prey,
When his young ones cry unto God,
And wander for lack of food?