[1] Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: [2] “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? [3] Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. [4] “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. [5] Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? [6] On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— [7] while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? [8] “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, [9] when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, [10] when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, [11] when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? [12] “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, [13] that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? [14] The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. [15] The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken. [16] “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? [17] Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? [18] Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. [19] “What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? [20] Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? [21] Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!
