< Job 37 >

1 “Also, my heart trembles at this, And it moves from its place.
At this my heart is shaking; it is moved out of its place.
2 Listen diligently to the trembling of His voice, Indeed, the sound goes forth from His mouth.
Give ear to the rolling noise of his voice; to the hollow sound which goes out of his mouth.
3 He directs it under the whole heavens, And its light [is] over the skirts of the earth.
He sends it out through all the heaven, and his thunder-flame to the ends of the earth.
4 A voice roars after it—He thunders with the voice of His excellence, And He does not hold them back, When His voice is heard.
After it a voice is sounding, thundering out the word of his power; he does not keep back his thunder-flames; from his mouth his voice is sounding.
5 God thunders with His voice wonderfully, Doing great things and we do not know.
He does wonders, more than may be searched out; great things of which we have no knowledge;
6 For He says to snow: Be [on] the earth. And the small rain and great rain of His power.
For he says to the snow, Make the earth wet; and to the rain-storm, Come down.
7 Into the hand of every man he seals, For the knowledge by all men of His work.
He puts an end to the work of every man, so that all may see his work.
8 And the beast enters into [its] lair, And it continues in its habitations.
Then the beasts go into their holes, and take their rest.
9 From the inner chamber comes a windstorm, And from scatterings winds—cold,
Out of its place comes the storm-wind, and the cold out of its store-houses.
10 From the breath of God is frost given, And the breadth of waters is constricted,
By the breath of God ice is made, and the wide waters are shut in.
11 Indeed, by filling He presses out a cloud, [and] His light scatters a cloud.
The thick cloud is weighted with thunder-flame, and the cloud sends out its light;
12 And it is turning itself around by His counsels, For their doing all He commands them, On the face of the habitable earth.
And it goes this way and that, round about, turning itself by his guiding, to do whatever he gives orders to be done, on the face of his world of men,
13 Whether for a rod, or for His land, Or for kindness—He causes it to come.
For a rod, or for a curse, or for mercy, causing it to come on the mark.
14 Hear this, O Job, Stand and consider the wonders of God.
Give ear to this, O Job, and keep quiet in your place; and take note of the wonders worked by God.
15 Do you know when God places them, And caused the light of His cloud to shine?
Have you knowledge of God's ordering of his works, how he makes the light of his cloud to be seen?
16 Do you know the balancings of a cloud? The wonders of the Perfect in knowledge?
Have you knowledge of the balancings of the clouds, the wonders of him who has all wisdom?
17 How your garments [are] warm, In the quieting of the earth from the south?
You, whose clothing is warm, when the earth is quiet because of the south wind,
18 You have made an expanse with Him For the clouds—strong as a hard mirror!
Will you, with him, make the skies smooth, and strong as a polished looking-glass?
19 Let us know what we say to Him, We do not set in array because of darkness.
Make clear to me what we are to say to him; we are unable to put our cause before him, because of the dark.
20 Is it declared to Him that I speak? If a man has spoken, surely he is swallowed up.
How may he have knowledge of my desire for talk with him? or did any man ever say, May destruction come on me?
21 And now, they have not seen the light, It [is] bright in the clouds, And the wind has passed by and cleanses them.
And now the light is not seen, for it is dark because of the clouds; but a wind comes, clearing them away.
22 It comes from the golden north, Fearful splendor [is] beside God.
A bright light comes out of the north; God's glory is greatly to be feared.
23 The Mighty! We have not found Him out, High in power and judgment, He does not answer! And abundant in righteousness,
There is no searching out of the Ruler of all: his strength and his judging are great; he is full of righteousness, doing no wrong.
24 Therefore men fear Him, He does not see any of the wise of heart.”
For this cause men go in fear of him; he has no respect for any who are wise in heart.

< Job 37 >