Contemporary English Version The Lord SpeaksFrom Out of a Storm1From out of a storm, the Lord said to Job: 2Why do you talk so much when you know so little? 3Now get ready to face me! Can you answer the questions I ask? 4How did I lay the foundation for the earth? Were you there? 5Doubtless you know who decided its length and width. 6What supports the foundation? Who placed the cornerstone, and angels rejoiced? I set its boundaries 9and wrapped it in blankets of thickest fog. 10Then I built a wall around it, locked the gates, 11and said, “Your powerful waves stop here! They can go no farther.” Did You Ever Tell the Sun To Rise?12Did you ever tell the sun to rise? And did it obey? 13Did it take hold of the earth and shake out the wicked like dust from a rug? 14Early dawn outlines the hills like stitches on clothing or sketches on clay. 15But its light is too much for those who are evil, and their power is broken. 16Job, have you ever walked on the ocean floor? 17Have you seen the gate to the world of the dead? 18And how large is the earth? Tell me, if you know! 19Where is the home of light, and where does darkness live? 20Can you lead them home? 21I'm certain you must be able to, since you were already born when I created everything. 22Have you been to the places where I keep snow and hail, 23until I use them to punish and conquer nations? 24From where does lightning leap, or the east wind blow? 25Who carves out a path for thunderstorms? Who sends torrents of rain 26on empty deserts where no one lives? 27Rain that changes barren land to meadows green with grass. 28Who is the father of the dew and of the rain? 29Who gives birth to the sleet and the frost 30that fall in winter, when streams and lakes freeze solid as a rock? Can You Arrange Stars?31 Can you arrange stars in groups such as Orion and the Pleiades? 32Do you control the stars or set in place the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper? 33Do you know the laws that govern the heavens, and can you make them rule the earth? 34Can you order the clouds to send a downpour, 35or will lightning flash at your command? 36Did you teach birds to know that rain or floods are on their way?+ 37Can you count the clouds or pour out their water 38on the dry, lumpy soil? 39When lions are hungry, do you help them hunt? 40Do you send an animal into their den? 41And when starving young ravens cry out to me for food, do you satisfy their hunger? Footnotes: Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®) © 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (www.americanbible.org). Learn more at www.cev.bible. Discover .BIBLE resources for your ministry at www.get.bible/cev Bible Hub |