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The storm makes my heart beat wildly.
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Listen, all of you, to the voice of God, to the thunder that comes from his mouth.
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He sends the lightning across the sky, from one end of the earth to the other.
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Then the roar of his voice is heard, the majestic sound of thunder, and all the while the lightning flashes.
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At God's command amazing things happen, wonderful things that we can't understand.
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He commands snow to fall on the earth, and sends torrents of drenching rain.
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He brings our work to a stop; he shows us what he can do.
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The wild animals go to their dens.
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The storm winds come from the south, and the biting cold from the north.
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The breath of God freezes the waters, and turns them to solid ice.
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Lightning flashes from the clouds,
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as they move at God's will. They do all that God commands, everywhere throughout the world.
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God sends rain to water the earth; he may send it to punish us, or to show us his favor.
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Pause a moment, Job, and listen; consider the wonderful things God does.
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Do you know how God gives the command and makes lightning flash from the clouds?
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Do you know how clouds float in the sky, the work of God's amazing skill?
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No, you can only suffer in the heat when the south wind oppresses the land.
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Can you help God stretch out the sky and make it as hard as polished metal?
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Teach us what to say to God; our minds are blank; we have nothing to say.
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I won't ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me?
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And now the light in the sky is dazzling, too bright for us to look at it; and the sky has been swept clean by the wind.
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A golden glow is seen in the north, and the glory of God fills us with awe.
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God's power is so great that we cannot come near him; he is righteous and just in his dealings with us.
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No wonder, then, that everyone is awed by him, and that he ignores those who claim to be wise.
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Then out of the storm the LORD spoke to Job.
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Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words?
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Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you.
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Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it.
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Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers?
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What holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world?
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In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, and the heavenly beings shouted for joy.
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Who closed the gates to hold back the sea when it burst from the womb of the earth?
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It was I who covered the sea with clouds and wrapped it in darkness.
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I marked a boundary for the sea and kept it behind bolted gates.
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I told it, "So far and no farther! Here your powerful waves must stop."
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Job, have you ever in all your life commanded a day to dawn?
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Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth and shake the wicked from their hiding places?
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Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out like the folds of a garment, clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.
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The light of day is too bright for the wicked and restrains them from doing violence.
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Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea? Have you walked on the floor of the ocean?
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Has anyone ever shown you the gates that guard the dark world of the dead?
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Have you any idea how big the world is? Answer me if you know.
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Do you know where the light comes from or what the source of darkness is?
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Can you show them how far to go, or send them back again?
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I am sure you can, because you're so old and were there when the world was made!
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Have you ever visited the storerooms, where I keep the snow and the hail?
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I keep them ready for times of trouble, for days of battle and war.
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Have you been to the place where the sun comes up, or the place from which the east wind blows?
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Who dug a channel for the pouring rain and cleared the way for the thunderstorm?
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Who makes rain fall where no one lives?
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Who waters the dry and thirsty land, so that grass springs up?
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Does either the rain or the dew have a father?
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Who is the mother of the ice and the frost,
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which turn the waters to stone and freeze the face of the sea?
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Can you tie the Pleiades together or loosen the bonds that hold Orion?
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Can you guide the stars season by season and direct the Big and the Little Dipper?
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Do you know the laws that govern the skies, and can you make them apply to the earth?
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Can you shout orders to the clouds and make them drench you with rain?
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And if you command the lightning to flash, will it come to you and say, "At your service"?
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Who tells the ibis when the Nile will flood, or who tells the rooster that rain will fall?
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Who is wise enough to count the clouds and tilt them over to pour out the rain,
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rain that hardens the dust into lumps?
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Do you find food for lions to eat, and satisfy hungry young lions
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when they hide in their caves, or lie in wait in their dens?
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Who is it that feeds the ravens when they wander about hungry, when their young cry to me for food?
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Do you know when mountain goats are born? Have you watched wild deer give birth?
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Do you know how long they carry their young? Do you know the time for their birth?
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Do you know when they will crouch down and bring their young into the world?
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In the wilds their young grow strong; they go away and don't come back.
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Who gave the wild donkeys their freedom? Who turned them loose and let them roam?
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I gave them the desert to be their home, and let them live on the salt plains.
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They keep far away from the noisy cities, and no one can tame them and make them work.
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The mountains are the pastures where they feed, where they search for anything green to eat.
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Will a wild ox work for you? Is he willing to spend the night in your stable?
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Can you hold one with a rope and make him plow? Or make him pull a harrow in your fields?
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Can you rely on his great strength and expect him to do your heavy work?
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Do you expect him to bring in your harvest and gather the grain from your threshing place?
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How fast the wings of an ostrich beat! But no ostrich can fly like a stork.
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The ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground for the heat in the soil to warm them.
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She is unaware that a foot may crush them or a wild animal break them.
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She acts as if the eggs were not hers, and is unconcerned that her efforts were wasted.
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It was I who made her foolish and did not give her wisdom.
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But when she begins to run, she can laugh at any horse and rider.
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Was it you, Job, who made horses so strong and gave them their flowing manes?
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Did you make them leap like locusts and frighten people with their snorting?
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They eagerly paw the ground in the valley; they rush into battle with all their strength.
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They do not know the meaning of fear, and no sword can turn them back.
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The weapons which their riders carry rattle and flash in the sun.
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Trembling with excitement, the horses race ahead; when the trumpet blows, they can't stand still.
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At each blast of the trumpet they snort; they can smell a battle before they get near, and they hear the officers shouting commands.
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Does a hawk learn from you how to fly when it spreads its wings toward the south?
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Does an eagle wait for your command to build its nest high in the mountains?
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It makes its home on the highest rocks and makes the sharp peaks its fortress.
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From there it watches near and far for something to kill and eat.
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Around dead bodies the eagles gather, and the young eagles drink the blood.
