Then The Lord Answered

⁸ “Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When it went out from the womb, bursting forth;
⁹ When I made a cloud its garment,
And thick darkness its swaddling bands,
¹⁰ And I placed boundaries on it
And set a bolt and doors,
¹¹ And I said, ‘As far as this point you shall come, but no farther;
And here your proud waves shall stop’?

¹⁶ “Have you entered the springs of the sea,
And walked in the depth of the ocean?
¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
And have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
¹⁸ Have you understood the expanse of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.

¹⁹ “Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
And darkness, where is its place,
²⁰ That you would take it to its territory,
And discern the paths to its home?
²¹ You know, for you were born then,
And the number of your days is great!
²² Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
And have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
²³ Which I have reserved for a time of distress,
For a day of war and battle?
²⁴ Where is the way that the light is divided,
And the east wind scattered on the earth?

²⁵ “Who has split open a channel for the flood,
And a way for the thunderbolt,
²⁶ To bring rain on a land without people,
On a desert without a person in it,
²⁷ To satisfy the waste and desolate land,
And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?
²⁸ Does the rain have a father?
Or who has fathered the drops of dew?
²⁹ From whose womb has come the ice?
And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?
³⁰ Water becomes hard like stone,
And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

³¹ “Can you tie up the chains of the Pleiades,
Or untie the cords of Orion?
³² Can you bring out a constellation in its season,
And guide the Bear with her satellites?
³³ Do you know the ordinances of the heavens,
Or do you establish their rule over the earth?

³⁴ “Can you raise your voice to the clouds,
So that an abundance of water will cover you?
³⁵ Can you send flashes of lightning, so that they may go
And say to you, ‘Here we are’?
³⁶ Who has put wisdom in the innermost being,
Or given understanding to the mind?
³⁷ Who can count the clouds by wisdom,
And pour out the water jars of the heavens,
³⁸ When the dust hardens into a mass
And the clods stick together?

³⁹ “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness,
Or satisfy the appetite of young lions,
⁴⁰ When they crouch in their hiding places,
And lie in wait in their lair?
⁴¹ Who prepares feed for the raven
When its young cry to God,
And wander about without food?

⁵ “Who sent the wild donkey out free?
And who opened the bonds of the swift donkey,
⁶ To whom I gave the wilderness as his home,
And the salt land as his dwelling place?
⁷ He laughs at the turmoil of the city,
He does not hear the shouting of the taskmaster.
⁸ He explores the mountains of his pasture,
And searches after every green thing.
⁹ Will the wild bull be willing to serve you,
Or will he spend the night at your feeding trough?
¹⁰ Can you tie down the wild bull in a furrow with ropes,
Or will he plow the valleys after you?
¹¹ Will you trust him because his strength is great,
And leave your labor to him?
¹² Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain
And gather it from your threshing floor?

¹³ “The wings of the ostrich flap joyously,
With the pinion and feathers of love,
¹⁴ For she abandons her eggs to the earth
And warms them in the dust,
¹⁵ And she forgets that a foot may crush them,
Or that a wild animal may trample them.
¹⁶ She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers;
Though her labor is for nothing, she is unconcerned,
¹⁷ Because God has made her forget wisdom,
And has not given her a share of understanding.
¹⁸ When she rushes away on high,
She laughs at the horse and his rider.

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
²⁰ Do you make him leap like locusts?
His majestic snorting is frightening.
²¹ He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;
He goes out to meet the battle.
²² He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
And he does not turn back from the sword.
²³ The quiver rattles against him,
The flashing spear and javelin.
²⁴ He races over the ground with a roar and fury,
And he does not stand still when he hears the sound of the trumpet.
²⁵ As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’
And he senses the battle from afar,
And the thunder of the captains and the war cry.

²⁶ “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,
Stretching his wings toward the south?
²⁷ Is it at your command that the eagle flies high,
And makes his nest on high?
²⁸ He dwells and spends his nights on the cliff,
On the rocky cliff, an inaccessible place.
²⁹ From there he tracks food;
His eyes look at it from afar.
³⁰ His young ones also lick up blood greedily;
And where the slain are, there he is.”