Job 37
International Children’s Bible
37 “At the sound of his thunder, my heart pounds.
It is as if my heart will jump out of my chest.
2 Listen! Listen to the thunder of God’s voice.
Listen to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 He turns his lightning loose under the whole sky.
And he sends it to the farthest parts of the earth.
4 After that you can hear the roar
when he thunders with a great sound.
He does not hold back the flashing
when his voice is heard.
5 God’s voice thunders in wonderful ways.
He does great things we cannot understand.
6 God says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth.’
And he says to the rain shower, ‘Be a heavy rain.’
7 With it, God stops everyone from working.
That way, everyone knows it is the work of God.
8 The animals take cover from the rain.
They stay in their dens.
9 The storm comes from where it was stored.
The cold comes from the strong winds.
10 The breath of God makes ice.
And the wide waters become frozen.
11 God fills the clouds up with water.
And he scatters his lightning through them.
12 At God’s command they swirl around
over the whole earth.
They do whatever he commands.
13 God uses the clouds to punish people
or to water his earth and show his love.
14 “Job, listen to this.
Stop and notice God’s miracles.
15 Do you know how God controls the clouds
and makes his lightning flash?
16 Do you know how the clouds hang in the sky?
They are the miracles of God, who knows everything.
17 You suffer in your clothes
when the land is made quiet by the hot, south wind.
18 You cannot stretch out the sky like God
and make it look as hard as polished bronze.
19 Tell us what we should say to God.
We cannot get our arguments ready because we do not have enough understanding.
20 Should God be told that I want to speak?
A man might try to speak to God, but he would surely be
swallowed up.
21 No one can look at the sun
when it is bright in the sky
after the wind has blown all the clouds away.
22 God comes out of the north in golden light.
He comes in overwhelming greatness.
23 God All-Powerful is too high for us to reach.
He has great strength.
He is always right and never punishes unfairly.
24 That is why people honor God.
He does not respect those who say they are wise.”
Job 37
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 37
1 At this my heart trembles
and leaps out of its place.
2 Listen to his angry voice[a]
and the rumble that comes forth from his mouth!
3 Everywhere under the heavens he sends it,
with his light, to the ends of the earth.
4 Again his voice roars,
his majestic voice thunders;
he does not restrain them when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders forth marvels with his voice;
he does great things beyond our knowing.
6 He says to the snow, “Fall to the earth”;
likewise to his heavy, drenching rain.
7 He shuts up all humankind indoors,
so that all people may know his work.
8 The wild beasts take to cover
and remain quiet in their dens.
9 Out of its chamber the tempest comes forth;
from the north winds, the cold.
10 With his breath God brings the frost,
and the broad waters congeal.(A)
11 The clouds too are laden with moisture,
the storm-cloud scatters its light.
12 [b]He it is who changes their rounds, according to his plans,
to do all that he commands them
across the inhabited world.
13 Whether for punishment or mercy,
he makes it happen.
14 Listen to this, Job!
Stand and consider the marvels of God!
15 Do you know how God lays his command upon them,
and makes the light shine forth from his clouds?
16 Do you know how the clouds are banked,
the marvels of him who is perfect in knowledge?
17 You, who swelter in your clothes
when calm lies over the land from the south,
18 Can you with him spread out the firmament of the skies,
hard as a molten mirror?[c]
19 Teach us then what we shall say to him;
we cannot, for the darkness, make our plea.
20 Will he be told about it when I speak?
Can anyone talk when he is being destroyed?
21 Rather, it is as the light that cannot be seen
while it is obscured by the clouds,
till the wind comes by and sweeps them away.[d]
22 From Zaphon[e] the golden splendor comes,
surrounding God’s awesome majesty!
23 The Almighty! We cannot find him,
preeminent in power and judgment,
abundant in justice, who never oppresses.
24 Therefore people fear him;
none can see him, however wise their hearts.[f]
Footnotes
- 37:2 Voice: the thunder.
- 37:12–13 The translation of these verses is uncertain.
- 37:18 The firmament…mirror: the ancients thought of the sky as a ceiling above which were the “upper waters” (cf. Gn 1:6–7; 7:11); when this ceiling became as hard as metal, the usual rain failed to fall on the earth (cf. Lv 26:19; Dt 28:23).
- 37:21 Elihu argues that even though God seems not to know our circumstances, he does know them, just as surely as the sun shines behind the clouds.
- 37:22 Zaphon: the mythical mountain of the gods; cf. note on 26:7.
- 37:24 The concluding remark of Elihu is ironic in view of the appearance of the Lord in the next chapter and Job’s claim in 42:5.
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