1: "Whenever this happens, my heart stops--I'm stunned, I can't catch my breath.
2: Listen to it! Listen to his thunder, the rolling, rumbling thunder of his voice.
3: He lets loose his lightnings from horizon to horizon, lighting up the earth from pole to pole.
4: In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice, powerful and majestic. He lets out all the stops, he holds nothing back. No one can mistake that voice--
5: His word thundering so wondrously, his mighty acts staggering our understanding.
6: He orders the snow, "Blanket the earth!' and the rain, "Soak the whole countryside!'
7: No one can escape the weather--it's there. And no one can escape from God.
8: Wild animals take shelter, crawling into their dens,
9: When blizzards roar out of the north and freezing rain crusts the land.
10: It's God's breath that forms the ice, it's God's breath that turns lakes and rivers solid.
11: And yes, it's God who fills clouds with rainwater and hurls lightning from them every which way.
12: He puts them through their paces--first this way, then that--commands them to do what he says all over the world.
13: Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love, he makes sure they make their mark.
14: "Job, are you listening? Have you noticed all this? Stop in your tracks! Take in God's miracle-wonders!
15: Do you have any idea how God does it all, how he makes bright lightning from dark storms,
16: How he piles up the cumulus clouds--all these miracle-wonders of a perfect Mind?
17: Why, you don't even know how to keep cool on a sweltering hot day,
18: So how could you even dream of making a dent in that hot-tin-roof sky?
19: "If you're so smart, give us a lesson in how to address God. We're in the dark and can't figure it out.
20: Do you think I'm dumb enough to challenge God? Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?
21: No one in his right mind stares straight at the sun on a clear and cloudless day.
22: As gold comes from the northern mountains, so a terrible beauty streams from God.
23: "Mighty God! Far beyond our reach! Unsurpassable in power and justice! It's unthinkable that he'd treat anyone unfairly.
24: So bow to him in deep reverence, one and all! If you're wise, you'll most certainly worship him." God Confronts Job Have You Gotten to the Bottom of Things?