Study Desk

"He strikes them like the wicked In a public place,

When He keeps quiet, who can condemn? And when He hides His face, who then can look at Him, That is, regarding both nation and a person?—

"Men of understanding will say to me, And a wise man who hears me,

"Your wickedness is for a man like yourself, And your righteousness is for a son of man.

"Wait for me a little, and I will show you That there is still more to be said on God's behalf.

"Then indeed, He induced you away from the mouth of distress, And instead of it, a broad place with no constraint; And your table was full of rich food.

"Behold, God is exalted in His power; Who is a teacher like Him?

"After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain the lightning when His voice is heard.

"Can you, with Him, spread out the skies, Strong as a cast metal mirror?

"Shall it be told Him that I would speak? Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up?

"Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man, And I shall ask you, and you inform Me!

When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling bands,

And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,

"It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand out like a garment.

Which I have reserved for a time of distress, For a day of war and battle?

"Who has split open a channel for the flood, And a way for the thunderbolt,

To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a person in it,

"Does the rain have a father? Or who has fathered the drops of dew?

"Can you bring out a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?

When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?