² “Who is this that makes my purpose unclear
    by saying things that are not true?
³ Be strong like a man!
    I will ask you questions,
    and you must answer me.
⁴ Where were you when I made the earth’s foundation?
    Tell me, if you understand.
⁵ Who marked off how big it should be? Surely you know!
    Who stretched a ruler across it?
⁶ What were the earth’s foundations set on,
    or who put its cornerstone in place
⁷ while the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels shouted with joy?

⁸ “Who shut the doors to keep the sea in
    when it broke through and was born,
⁹ when I made the clouds like a coat for the sea
    and wrapped it in dark clouds,
¹⁰ when I put limits on the sea
    and put its doors and bars in place,
¹¹ when I said to the sea, ‘You may come this far, but no farther;
    this is where your proud waves must stop’?

¹² “Have you ever ordered the morning to begin,
    or shown the dawn where its place was
¹³ in order to take hold of the earth by its edges
    and shake evil people out of it?
¹⁴ At dawn the earth changes like clay being pressed by a seal;
    the hills and valleys stand out like folds in a coat.
¹⁵ Light is not given to evil people;
    their arm is raised to do harm, but it is broken.

¹⁶ “Have you ever gone to where the sea begins
    or walked in the valleys under the sea?
¹⁷ Have the gates of death been opened to you?
    Have you seen the gates of the deep darkness?
¹⁸ Do you understand how wide the earth is?
    Tell me, if you know all these things.

¹⁹ “What is the path to light’s home,
    and where does darkness live?
²⁰ Can you take them to their places?
    Do you know the way to their homes?
²¹ Surely you know, if you were already born when all this happened!
    Have you lived that many years?

²² “Have you ever gone into the storehouse of the snow
    or seen the storehouses for hail,
²³ which I save for times of trouble,
    for days of war and battle?
²⁴ Where is the place from which light comes?
    Where is the place from which the east winds blow over the earth?
²⁵ Who cuts a waterway for the heavy rains
    and sets a path for the thunderstorm?
²⁶ Who waters the land where no one lives,
    the desert that has no one in it?
²⁷ Who sends rain to satisfy the empty land
    so the grass begins to grow?
²⁸ Does the rain have a father?
    Who is father to the drops of dew?
²⁹ Who is the mother of the ice?
    Who gives birth to the frost from the sky
³⁰ when the water becomes hard as stone,
    and even the surface of the ocean is frozen?

³¹ “Can you tie up the stars of the Pleiades
    or loosen the ropes of the stars in Orion?
³² Can you bring out the stars on time
    or lead out the stars of the Bear with its cubs?
³³ Do you know the laws of the sky
    and understand their rule over the earth?

³⁴ “Can you shout an order to the clouds
    and cover yourself with a flood of water?
³⁵ Can you send lightning bolts on their way?
    Do they come to you and say, ‘Here we are’?
³⁶ Who put wisdom inside the mind
    or understanding in the heart?
³⁷ Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
    Who can pour water from the jars of the sky
³⁸ when the dust becomes hard
    and the clumps of dirt stick together?

³⁹ “Do you hunt food for the female lion
    to satisfy the hunger of the young lions
⁴⁰ while they lie in their dens
    or hide in the bushes waiting to attack?
⁴¹ Who gives food to the birds
    when their young cry out to God
    and wander about without food?

39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
    Do you watch when the deer gives birth to her fawn?
² Do you count the months until they give birth
    and know the right time for them to give birth?
³ They lie down, their young are born,
    and then the pain of giving birth is over.
⁴ Their young ones grow big and strong in the wild country.
    Then they leave their homes and do not return.

⁵ “Who let the wild donkey go free?
    Who untied its ropes?
⁶ I am the one who gave the donkey the desert as its home;
    I gave it the desert lands as a place to live.
⁷ The wild donkey laughs at the confusion in the city,
    and it does not hear the drivers shout.
⁸ It roams the hills looking for pasture,
    looking for anything green to eat.

⁹ “Will the wild ox agree to serve you
    and stay by your feeding box at night?
¹⁰ Can you hold it to the plowed row with a harness
    so it will plow the valleys for you?
¹¹ Will you depend on the wild ox for its great strength
    and leave your heavy work for it to do?
¹² Can you trust the ox to bring in your grain
    and gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³ “The wings of the ostrich flap happily,
    but they are not like the feathers of the stork.
¹⁴ The ostrich lays its eggs on the ground
    and lets them warm in the sand.
¹⁵ It does not stop to think that a foot might step on them and crush them;
    it does not care that some animal might walk on them.
¹⁶ The ostrich is cruel to its young, as if they were not even its own.
    It does not care that its work is for nothing,
¹⁷ because God did not give the ostrich wisdom;
    God did not give it a share of good sense.
¹⁸ But when the ostrich gets up to run, it is so fast
    that it laughs at the horse and its rider.

¹⁹ “Job, are you the one who gives the horse its strength
    or puts a flowing mane on its neck?
²⁰ Do you make the horse jump like a locust?
    It scares people with its proud snorting.
²¹ It paws wildly, enjoying its strength,
    and charges into battle.
²² It laughs at fear and is afraid of nothing;
    it does not run away from the sword.
²³ The bag of arrows rattles against the horse’s side,
    along with the flashing spears and swords.
²⁴ With great excitement, the horse races over the ground;
    and it cannot stand still when it hears the trumpet.
²⁵ When the trumpet blows, the horse snorts, ‘Aha!’
    It smells the battle from far away;
    it hears the shouts of commanders and the battle cry.

²⁶ “Is it through your wisdom that the hawk flies
    and spreads its wings toward the south?
²⁷ Are you the one that commands the eagle to fly
    and build its nest so high?
²⁸ It lives on a high cliff and stays there at night;
    the rocky peak is its protected place.
²⁹ From there it looks for its food;
    its eyes can see it from far away.
³⁰ Its young eat blood,
    and where there is something dead, the eagle is there.”