² Who is this that darkeneth counsel
by words without knowledge?
³ Gird up now thy loins like a man;
for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

⁴ Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
declare, if thou hast understanding.
⁵ Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest?
or who hath stretched the line upon it?
⁶ Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?
or who laid the corner stone thereof;
⁷ when the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
⁸ Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth,
as if it had issued out of the womb?
⁹ When I made the cloud the garment thereof,
and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,
¹⁰ and brake up for it my decreed place,
and set bars and doors,
¹¹ and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further:
and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

¹² Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days;
and caused the dayspring to know his place;
¹³ that it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
¹⁴ It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
¹⁵ And from the wicked their light is withholden,
and the high arm shall be broken.
¹⁶ Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
¹⁷ Have the gates of death been opened unto thee?
or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
¹⁸ Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth?
declare if thou knowest it all.

¹⁹ Where is the way where light dwelleth?
and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
²⁰ that thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,
and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?
²¹ Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born?
or because the number of thy days is great?
²² Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?
or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
²³ which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
against the day of battle and war?
²⁴ By what way is the light parted,
which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
²⁵ Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters,
or a way for the lightning of thunder;
²⁶ to cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is;
on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
²⁷ to satisfy the desolate and waste ground;
and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

³¹ Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades,
or loose the bands of Orion?
³² Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?
or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
³³ Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven?
canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?