Christian Standard Bible

English Standard Version

1Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:

1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

2Who is this who obscures my counsel with ignorant words?

2“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3Get ready to answer me like a man; when I question you, you will inform me.

3Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.

4Where were you when I established the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

4“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

5Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?

5Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

6What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone

6On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,

7while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

7when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst from the womb,

8“Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb,

9when I made the clouds its garment and total darkness its blanket,

9when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band,

10when I determined its boundaries and put its bars and doors in place,

10and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors,

11when I declared: "You may come this far, but no farther; your proud waves stop here"?

11and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

12Have you ever in your life commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,

12“Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,

13so it may seize the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?

13that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

14The earth is changed as clay is by a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.

14It is changed like clay under the seal, and its features stand out like a garment.

15Light is withheld from the wicked, and the arm raised in violence is broken.

15From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken.

16Have you traveled to the sources of the sea or walked in the depths of the oceans?

16“Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

17Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

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

18Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.

19Where is the road to the home of light? Do you know where darkness lives,

19“Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,

20so you can lead it back to its border? Are you familiar with the paths to its home?

20that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?

21Don't you know? You were already born; you have lived so long!

21You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!

22Have you entered the place where the snow is stored? Or have you seen the storehouses of hail,

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

23which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of warfare and battle?

23which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?

24What road leads to the place where light is dispersed? Where is the source of the east wind that spreads across the earth?

24What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

25Who cuts a channel for the flooding rain or clears the way for lightning,

25“Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and a way for the thunderbolt,

26to bring rain on an uninhabited land, on a desert with no human life,

26to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man,

27to satisfy the parched wasteland and cause the grass to sprout?

27to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass?

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

28“Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29Whose womb did the ice come from? Who gave birth to the frost of heaven

29From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?

30when water becomes as hard as stone, and the surface of the watery depths is frozen?

30The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

31Can you fasten the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?

31“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?

32Can you bring out the constellations in their season and lead the Bear and her cubs?

32Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?

33Do you know the laws of heaven? Can you impose its authority on earth?

33Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you?

34“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you?

35Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go? Do they report to you: "Here we are"?

35Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?

36Who put wisdom in the heart or gave the mind understanding?

36Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind?

37Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of heaven

37Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

38when the dust hardens like cast metal and the clods of dirt stick together?

38when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together?

39Can you hunt prey for a lioness or satisfy the appetite of young lions

39“Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait within their lairs?

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

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

41Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.