Job 37

Easy-to-Read Version

37 “The thunder and lightning frighten me;
    my heart pounds in my chest.
² Listen to God’s thundering voice!
    Listen to the sound coming from his mouth.
³ He sends his lightning to flash across the whole sky.
    It lights up the earth from one end to the other.
⁴ After the flashes of lightning you can hear his roaring voice.
    He thunders with his wonderful voice!
And while his voice thunders, the lightning flashes continue.
⁵ God’s thundering voice is amazing!
    He does great things that we cannot understand.
⁶ He says to the snow,
    ‘Fall on the earth.’
And he says to the rain,
    ‘Pour down on the earth.’
⁷ God does this to stop everyone’s work
    and to show the people he made what he can do.
⁸ The animals run into their dens and stay there.
⁹ Whirlwinds come from the south.
    The cold winds come from the north.
¹⁰ God’s breath makes ice
    and freezes even large bodies of water.
¹¹ He fills the clouds with water
    and scatters his lightning through them.
¹² He orders the clouds to be blown all around the earth.
    The clouds do whatever he commands.
¹³ He causes the clouds to punish people with floods
    or to water his earth and show his love.

¹⁴ “Job, stop for a minute and listen.
    Think about the wonderful things God does.
¹⁵ Do you know how God controls the clouds?
    Do you know how he makes his lightning flash?
¹⁶ Do you know how the clouds hang in the sky?
    This is just one of the amazing works of the one who knows everything.
¹⁷ All you know is that you sweat, your clothes stick to you,
    and all is still and quiet when the heat wave comes from the south.
¹⁸ Can you help God spread out the sky
    and make it shine like polished brass?

¹⁹ “Job, tell us what we should say to God!
    We cannot think of what to say because of our ignorance.^[a]
20 I would not tell God that I wanted to talk to him.
    That would be like asking to be destroyed.
²¹ A person cannot look at the sun.
    It is too bright as it shines in the sky after the wind blows the clouds away.
²² In the same way God’s golden glory shines from the Holy Mountain.^[b]
    He is surrounded by the brightest light.
²³ We have seen that God All-Powerful really is all powerful!
    But he is just and never treats anyone unfairly.^[c]
24 That is why people fear and respect him.
    He shows no respect for those who think they are wise.”