Job 37
1 At this my heart is shaking; it is moved out of its place.
At this my heart trembles, beating rapidly within me!
2 Give ear to the rolling noise of his voice; to the hollow sound which goes out of his mouth.
Listen carefully to God's thunderous voice that rumbles as he speaks.
3 He sends it out through all the heaven, and his thunder-flame to the ends of the earth.
He sends it across the heaven; his lightning flashes to the ends of the earth.
4 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.
Then comes the roar of thunder, his majestic voice holding nothing back when he speaks.
5 He does wonders, more than may be searched out; great things of which we have no knowledge;
God's thunderous voice is wonderful! We can't comprehend the great things he does!
6 For he says to the snow, Make the earth wet; and to the rain-storm, Come down.
He tells the snow to fall and the rain to pour down on the earth.
7 He puts an end to the work of every man, so that all may see his work.
By this he stops people working so that everyone can understand what he does.
8 Then the beasts go into their holes, and take their rest.
Even the animals take shelter and remain in their dens.
9 Out of its place comes the storm-wind, and the cold out of its store-houses.
The south wind blows in storms, while the north wind blows in cold weather.
10 By the breath of God ice is made, and the wide waters are shut in.
God's breath produces ice, freezing the surface of water solid.
11 The thick cloud is weighted with thunder-flame, and the cloud sends out its light;
He fills the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning from them.
12 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,
They swirl around under his control; they move over all the earth as he commands.
13 For a rod, or for a curse, or for mercy, causing it to come on the mark.
He does this to accomplish his will, either to discipline or to show his goodness.
14 Give ear to this, O Job, and keep quiet in your place; and take note of the wonders worked by God.
Listen to this, Job! Stop for a moment and consider the wonderful things God does.
15 Have you knowledge of God's ordering of his works, how he makes the light of his cloud to be seen?
Do you know how God controls the clouds, or makes his lightning flash from them?
16 Have you knowledge of the balancings of the clouds, the wonders of him who has all wisdom?
Do you know how clouds float in the sky—the wonderful work of him who knows everything.
17 You, whose clothing is warm, when the earth is quiet because of the south wind,
You know how your clothes drip with sweat when the south wind brings air that is hot and heavy.
18 Will you, with him, make the skies smooth, and strong as a polished looking-glass?
Can you hammer out the sky so it becomes like a molten mirror, as he does?
19 Make clear to me what we are to say to him; we are unable to put our cause before him, because of the dark.
So why don't you teach us what to tell God? We cannot make our case because we are in the dark!
20 How may he have knowledge of my desire for talk with him? or did any man ever say, May destruction come on me?
Should God be told that I want to speak? Anyone who wanted to would be destroyed!
21 And now the light is not seen, for it is dark because of the clouds; but a wind comes, clearing them away.
After all, we can't look at the sun when it blazes brightly in the sky, after the wind has cleared away the clouds.
22 A bright light comes out of the north; God's glory is greatly to be feared.
Out of the north God comes shining like gold, surrounded in awesome majesty.
23 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.
We cannot approach the Almighty for he is far beyond us in power and justice, and doing right.
24 For this cause men go in fear of him; he has no respect for any who are wise in heart.
He does not act like a tyrant—no wonder people are in awe of him, though he does not value those who think they're wise.”
