Job 37-38
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
37 “At this also my heart trembles
and leaps out of its place.
2 Listen, listen to the thunder of his voice
and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.(A)
3 Under the whole heaven he lets it loose,
and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
4 After it his voice roars;
he thunders with his majestic voice,
and he does not restrain the lightnings[a] when his voice is heard.(B)
5 God thunders wondrously with his voice;
he does great things that we cannot comprehend.(C)
6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth’;
and the shower of rain, his heavy shower of rain,(D)
7 serves as a sign on everyone’s hand,
so that all whom he has made may know it.[b](E)
8 Then the animals go into their lairs
and remain in their dens.(F)
9 From its chamber comes the whirlwind
and cold from the scattering winds.(G)
10 By the breath of God ice is given,
and the broad waters are frozen fast.(H)
11 He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
the clouds scatter his lightning.(I)
12 They turn round and round by his guidance
to accomplish all that he commands them
on the face of the habitable world.(J)
13 Whether for correction or for his land
or for love, he causes it to happen.(K)
14 “Hear this, O Job;
stop and consider the wondrous works of God.(L)
15 Do you know how God lays his command upon them
and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
16 Do you know the balancings of the clouds,
the wondrous works of the one whose knowledge is perfect,(M)
17 you whose garments are hot
when the earth is still because of the south wind?
18 Can you, like him, spread out the skies,
hard as a molten mirror?(N)
19 Teach us what we shall say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.
20 Should he be told that I want to speak?
Did anyone ever wish to be swallowed up?
21 Now, no one can look on the light
when it is bright in the skies,
when the wind has passed and cleared them.
22 Out of the north comes golden splendor;
around God is awesome majesty.
23 The Almighty[c]—we cannot find him;
he is great in power and justice,
and abundant righteousness he will not violate.(O)
24 Therefore mortals fear him;
he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”(P)
The Lord Answers Job
38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:(Q)
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?(R)
3 Gird up your loins like a man;
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.(S)
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.(T)
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone(U)
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings[d] shouted for joy?(V)
8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,(W)
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,(X)
10 and prescribed bounds for it,
and set bars and doors,(Y)
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?(Z)
12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began
and caused the dawn to know its place,(AA)
13 so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?(AB)
14 It is changed like clay under the seal,
and it is dyed[e] like a garment.
15 Light is withheld from the wicked,
and their uplifted arm is broken.(AC)
16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?(AD)
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?(AE)
18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.(AF)
19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
20 that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?(AG)
21 Surely you know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!(AH)
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,(AI)
23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?(AJ)
24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?(AK)
25 “Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt,(AL)
26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
on the desert, which is empty of human life,(AM)
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground put forth grass?(AN)
28 “Has the rain a father,
or who has fathered the drops of dew?(AO)
29 From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?(AP)
30 The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loose the cords of Orion?(AQ)
32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?(AR)
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of waters may cover you?(AS)
35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?(AT)
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts[f]
or given understanding to the mind?[g](AU)
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens
38 when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods cling together?
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.