Job 37-39New International Version (NIV)


37 “At this my heart pounds
and leaps from its place.

2
Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.

3
He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.

4
After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.

5
God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.

6
He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’

7
So that everyone he has made may know his work,
he stops all people from their labor.

8
The animals take cover;
they remain in their dens.

9
The tempest comes out from its chamber,
the cold from the driving winds.

10
The breath of God produces ice,
and the broad waters become frozen.

11
He loads the clouds with moisture;
he scatters his lightning through them.

12
At his direction they swirl around
over the face of the whole earth
to do whatever he commands them.

13
He brings the clouds to punish people,
or to water his earth and show his love.



14
“Listen to this, Job;
stop and consider God’s wonders.

15
Do you know how God controls the clouds
and makes his lightning flash?

16
Do you know how the clouds hang poised,
those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?

17
You who swelter in your clothes
when the land lies hushed under the south wind,

18
can you join him in spreading out the skies,
hard as a mirror of cast bronze?



19
“Tell us what we should say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.

20
Should he be told that I want to speak?
Would anyone ask to be swallowed up?

21
Now no one can look at the sun,
bright as it is in the skies
after the wind has swept them clean.

22
Out of the north he comes in golden splendor;
God comes in awesome majesty.

23
The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;
in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.

24
Therefore, people revere him,
for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart? ”

The Lord Speaks

38 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:



2
“Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?

3
Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.



4
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.

5
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—

7
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?



8
“Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,

9
when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,

10
when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,

11
when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?



12
“Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,

13
that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?

14
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.

15
The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.



16
“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17
Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?

18
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.



19
“What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?

20
Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

21
Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!



22
“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,

23
which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?

24
What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

25
Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,

26
to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,

27
to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?

28
Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?

29
From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the hea

29
From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

30
when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?



31
“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?

32
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?

33
Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?



34
“Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?

35
Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?

36
Who gives the ibis wisdom
or gives the rooster understanding?

37
Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

38
when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?



39
“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions

40
when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?

41
Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?


39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

2
Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?

3
They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.

4
Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.



5
“Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?

6
I gave it the wasteland as its home,
the salt flats as its habitat.

7
It laughs at the commotion in the town;
it does not hear a driver’s shout.

8
It ranges the hills for its pasture
and searches for any green thing.



9
“Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will it stay by your manger at night?

10
Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
Will it till the valleys behind you?

11
Will you rely on it for its great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to it?

12
Can you trust it to haul in your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?



13
“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
though they cannot compare
with the wings and feathers of the stork.

14
She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,

15
unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.

16
She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,

17
for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.

18
Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.



19
“Do you give the horse its strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?

20
Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?

21
It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.

22
It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.

23
The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.

24
In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

25
At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.



26
“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?

27
Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?

28
It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is its stronghold.

29
From there it looks for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.

30
Its young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”