“Let darkness and gloom claim it for their own; Let a cloud settle upon it; Let all that blackens the day terrify it (the day that I was born).

“As a cloud vanishes and is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) does not come up.

“Though his pride reaches the heavens And his head touches the clouds,

‘Thick clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see, And He walks on the vault (circle) of the heavens.’

“He wraps the waters in His clouds [which otherwise would spill on earth all at once], And the cloud does not burst under them.

“He covers the face of the full moon And spreads His cloud over it.

“Terrors are turned upon me; They chase away my honor and reputation like the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

Which the clouds pour down, They drop abundantly upon mankind.”

“Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds Or the thundering of His pavilion?

“Behold, He spreads His lightning around Him [against the dark clouds], And He covers the depths of the sea.

“He loads the thick cloud with moisture; He disperses the cloud of His lightning.

“Do you know how God establishes and commands them, And makes the lightning of His [storm] cloud shine?

“Do you know about the layers of thick clouds [and how they are balanced and poised in the heavens], The wonderful works of Him who is perfect in knowledge,

When I made the clouds its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band,

“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you?

“Who has put wisdom in the innermost being [of man, or in the layers of clouds] Or given understanding to the mind [of man, or to the heavenly display]?

“Who can count the clouds by [earthly] wisdom, Or pour out the water jars of the heavens,