| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1The LORD responded to Job from the whirlwind and said: | 1Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind. He said: |
| 2"Who is this who keeps darkening my counsel without knowing what he's talking about? | 2Who is this who obscures My counsel with ignorant words? |
| 3Stand up like a man! I'll ask you some questions, and you give me some answers!" | 3Get ready to answer Me like a man; when I question you, you will inform Me. |
| 4"Where were you when I laid the foundation of my earth? Tell me, since you're so informed! | 4Where were you when I established the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. |
| 5Who set its measurement? Am I to assume you know? Who stretched a boundary line over it? | 5Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? |
| 6On what were its bases set? Who laid its corner stone | 6What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone |
| 7while the morning stars sang together and all the divine beings shouted joyfully? | 7while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? |
| 8"Who enclosed the sea with limits when it gushed out of the womb, | 8Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst from the womb, |
| 9when I made clouds to be its clothes and thick darkness its swaddling blanket, | 9when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket, |
| 10when I proscribed a boundary for it, set in place bars and doors for it; | 10when I determined its boundaries and put its bars and doors in place, |
| 11and said, 'You may come only this far and no more. Your majestic waves will stop here.'? | 11when I declared: "You may come this far, but no farther; your proud waves stop here"? |
| 12"Have you ever commanded the morning at any time during your life? Do you know where the dawn lives, | 12Have you ever in your life commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place, |
| 13where it seizes the edge of the earth and shakes the wicked out of it? | 13so it may seize the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it? |
| 14Like clay is molded by a signet ring, the earth's hills and valleys then stand out like the colors of a garment. | 14The earth is changed as clay is by a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment. |
| 15Then from the wicked their light is withheld and their upraised arm is broken. | 15Light is withheld from the wicked, and the arm raised in violence is broken. |
| 16"Have you been to the source of the sea and walked about in the recesses of the deepest ocean? | 16Have you traveled to the sources of the sea or walked in the depths of the oceans? |
| 17Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? | 17Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deep darkness? |
| 18Do you understand the breadth of the earth? Tell me, since you know it all! | 18Have you comprehended the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. |
| 19"Where is the road to where the light lives? Or where does the darkness live? | 19Where is the road to the home of light? Do you know where darkness lives, |
| 20Can you take it to its homeland, since you know the path to his house? | 20so you can lead it back to its border? Are you familiar with the paths to its home? |
| 21You should know! After all, you had been born back then, so the number of your days is great! | 21Don't you know? You were already born; you have lived so long! |
| 22"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen where the hail is stored, | 22Have you entered the place where the snow is stored? Or have you seen the storehouses of hail, |
| 23which I've reserved for the tribulation to come, for the day of battle and war? | 23which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of warfare and battle? |
| 24Where is the lightning diffused or the east wind scattered around the earth? | 24What road leads to the place where light is dispersed? Where is the source of the east wind that spreads across the earth? |
| 25"Who cuts canals for storm floods, and paths for the lightning and thunder, | 25Who cuts a channel for the flooding rain or clears the way for lightning, |
| 26to bring rain upon a land without inhabitants, a desert in which no human beings live, | 26to bring rain on an uninhabited land, on a desert with no human life, |
| 27to satisfy a desolate and devastated desert, causing it to sprout vegetation? | 27to satisfy the parched wasteland and cause the grass to sprout? |
| 28"Does the rain have a father? Who fathered the dew? | 28Does the rain have a father? Who fathered the drops of dew? |
| 29Whose womb brings forth the ice? Who gives birth to frost out of an empty sky, | 29Whose womb did the ice come from? Who gave birth to the frost of heaven |
| 30when water solidifies like stone and the surface of the deepest sea freezes? | 30when water becomes as hard as stone, and the surface of the watery depths is frozen? |
| 31"Can you bind the chains of Pleiades or loosen the cords of Orion? | 31Can you fasten the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion? |
| 32Can you bring out constellations in their season? Can you guide the Bear with her cubs? | 32Can you bring out the constellations in their season and lead the Bear and her cubs? |
| 33Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you regulate their authority over the earth? | 33Do you know the laws of heaven? Can you impose its authority on earth? |
| 34"Can you call out to the clouds, so that abundant water drenches you? | 34Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you? |
| 35Can you command the lightning, so that it goes forth and calls to you, 'Look at us!' | 35Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go? Do they report to you: "Here we are"? |
| 36"Who sets wisdom within you, or imbues your mind with understanding? | 36Who put wisdom in the heart or gave the mind understanding? |
| 37Who has the wisdom to be able to count the clouds, or to empty the water jars of heaven, | 37Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of heaven |
| 38when dust dries into a mass and then breaks apart into clods? | 38when the dust hardens like cast metal and the clods of dirt stick together? |
| 39"Can you hunt prey for the lioness to satisfy young lions | 39Can you hunt prey for a lioness or satisfy the appetite of young lions |
| 40when they crouch in their dens and lie in ambush in their lairs? | 40when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait within their lairs? |
| 41Who prepares food for the raven, when its offspring cry out to God as they wander for lack of food?" | 41Who provides the raven's food when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? |
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