Ecclesiastes 7:24

7:24 Whatever has happened is beyond human understanding;

it is far deeper than anyone can fathom.

Ecclesiastes 8:17

8:17 then I discerned all that God has done:

No one really comprehends what happens on earth.

Despite all human efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp it.

Even if a wise person claimed that he understood,

he would not really comprehend it.

Job 5:9

5:9 He does great and unsearchable things,

marvelous things without number;

Job 26:5-14

A Better Description of God’s Greatness

26:5 “The dead tremble –

those beneath the waters

and all that live in them.

26:6 The underworld is naked before God;

the place of destruction lies uncovered.

26:7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;

he suspends the earth on nothing.

26:8 He locks the waters in his clouds,

and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.

26:9 He conceals the face of the full moon,

shrouding it with his clouds.

26:10 He marks out the horizon on the surface of the waters

as a boundary between light and darkness.

26:11 The pillars of the heavens tremble

and are amazed at his rebuke.

26:12 By his power he stills the sea;

by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster to pieces.

26:13 By his breath the skies became fair;

his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

26:14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways!

How faint is the whisper we hear of him!

But who can understand the thunder of his power?”

Job 36:24-33

36:24 Remember to extol his work,

which people have praised in song.

36:25 All humanity has seen it;

people gaze on it from afar.

The Work and Wisdom of God

36:26 “Yes, God is great – beyond our knowledge!

The number of his years is unsearchable.

36:27 He draws up drops of water;

they distill the rain into its mist,

36:28 which the clouds pour down

and shower on humankind abundantly.

36:29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds,

the thunderings of his pavilion?

36:30 See how he scattered his lightning about him;

he has covered the depths of the sea.

36:31 It is by these that he judges the nations

and supplies food in abundance.

36:32 With his hands he covers the lightning,

and directs it against its target.

36:33 His thunder announces the coming storm,

the cattle also, concerning the storm’s approach.

Job 37:23

37:23 As for the Almighty, we cannot attain to him!

He is great in power,

but justice and abundant righteousness he does not oppress.

Job 38:4--41:34

God’s questions to Job

38:4 “Where were you

when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you possess understanding!

38:5 Who set its measurements – if you know –

or who stretched a measuring line across it?

38:6 On what were its bases set,

or who laid its cornerstone –

38:7 when the morning stars sang in chorus,

and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

38:8 “Who shut up the sea with doors

when it burst forth, coming out of the womb,

38:9 when I made the storm clouds its garment,

and thick darkness its swaddling band,

38:10 when I prescribed its limits,

and set in place its bolts and doors,

38:11 when I said, ‘To here you may come

and no farther,

here your proud waves will be confined’?

38:12 Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,

or made the dawn know its place,

38:13 that it might seize the corners of the earth,

and shake the wicked out of it?

38:14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;

its features are dyed like a garment.

38:15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,

and the arm raised in violence is broken.

38:16 Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea,

or walked about in the recesses of the deep?

38:17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?

Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness?

38:18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth?

Tell me, if you know it all!

38:19 “In what direction does light reside,

and darkness, where is its place,

38:20 that you may take them to their borders

and perceive the pathways to their homes?

38:21 You know, for you were born before them;

and the number of your days is great!

38:22 Have you entered the storehouse of the snow,

or seen the armory of the hail,

38:23 which I reserve for the time of trouble,

for the day of war and battle?

38:24 In what direction is lightning dispersed,

or the east winds scattered over the earth?

38:25 Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains,

and a path for the rumble of thunder,

38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land,

a desert where there are no human beings,

38:27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,

and to cause it to sprout with vegetation?

38:28 Does the rain have a father,

or who has fathered the drops of the dew?

38:29 From whose womb does the ice emerge,

and the frost from the sky, who gives birth to it,

38:30 when the waters become hard like stone,

when the surface of the deep is frozen solid?

38:31 Can you tie the bands of the Pleiades,

or release the cords of Orion?

38:32 Can you lead out

the constellations in their seasons,

or guide the Bear with its cubs?

38:33 Do you know the laws of the heavens,

or can you set up their rule over the earth?

38:34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds

so that a flood of water covers you?

38:35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go?

Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?

38:36 Who has put wisdom in the heart,

or has imparted understanding to the mind?

38:37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds,

and who can tip over the water jars of heaven,

38:38 when the dust hardens into a mass,

and the clumps of earth stick together?

38:39 “Do you hunt prey for the lioness,

and satisfy the appetite of the lions,

38:40 when they crouch in their dens,

when they wait in ambush in the thicket?

38:41 Who prepares prey for the raven,

when its young cry out to God

and wander about for lack of food?

39:1 “Are you acquainted with the way

the mountain goats give birth?

Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?

39:2 Do you count the months they must fulfill,

and do you know the time they give birth?

39:3 They crouch, they bear their young,

they bring forth the offspring they have carried.

39:4 Their young grow strong, and grow up in the open;

they go off, and do not return to them.

39:5 Who let the wild donkey go free?

Who released the bonds of the donkey,

39:6 to whom I appointed the steppe for its home,

the salt wastes as its dwelling place?

39:7 It scorns the tumult in the town;

it does not hear the shouts of a driver.

39:8 It ranges the hills as its pasture,

and searches after every green plant.

39:9 Is the wild ox willing to be your servant?

Will it spend the night at your feeding trough?

39:10 Can you bind the wild ox to a furrow with its rope,

will it till the valleys, following after you?

39:11 Will you rely on it because its strength is great?

Will you commit your labor to it?

39:12 Can you count on it to bring in your grain,

and gather the grain to your threshing floor?

39:13 “The wings of the ostrich flap with joy,

but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork?

39:14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground,

and lets them be warmed on the soil.

39:15 She forgets that a foot might crush them,

or that a wild animal might trample them.

39:16 She is harsh with her young,

as if they were not hers;

she is unconcerned

about the uselessness of her labor.

39:17 For God deprived her of wisdom,

and did not impart understanding to her.

39:18 But as soon as she springs up,

she laughs at the horse and its rider.

39:19 “Do you give the horse its strength?

Do you clothe its neck with a mane?

39:20 Do you make it leap like a locust?

Its proud neighing is terrifying!

39:21 It paws the ground in the valley,

exulting mightily,

it goes out to meet the weapons.

39:22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

it does not shy away from the sword.

39:23 On it the quiver rattles;

the lance and javelin flash.

39:24 In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground;

it cannot stand still when the trumpet is blown.

39:25 At the sound of the trumpet, it says, ‘Aha!’

And from a distance it catches the scent of battle,

the thunderous shouting of commanders,

and the battle cries.

39:26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,

and spreads its wings toward the south?

39:27 Is it at your command that the eagle soars,

and builds its nest on high?

39:28 It lives on a rock and spends the night there,

on a rocky crag and a fortress.

39:29 From there it spots its prey,

its eyes gaze intently from a distance.

39:30 And its young ones devour the blood,

and where the dead carcasses are,

there it is.”

Job’s Reply to God’s Challenge

40:1 Then the Lord answered Job:

40:2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?

Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”

40:3 Then Job answered the Lord:

40:4 “Indeed, I am completely unworthy – how could I reply to you?

I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself.

40:5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer;

twice, but I will say no more.”

The Lord’s Second Speech

40:6 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

40:7 “Get ready for a difficult task like a man.

I will question you and you will inform me!

40:8 Would you indeed annul my justice?

Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?

40:9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s,

and can you thunder with a voice like his?

40:10 Adorn yourself, then, with majesty and excellency,

and clothe yourself with glory and honor!

40:11 Scatter abroad the abundance of your anger.

Look at every proud man and bring him low;

40:12 Look at every proud man and abase him;

crush the wicked on the spot!

40:13 Hide them in the dust together,

imprison them in the grave.

40:14 Then I myself will acknowledge to you

that your own right hand can save you.

The Description of Behemoth

40:15 “Look now at Behemoth, which I made as I made you;

it eats grass like the ox.

40:16 Look at its strength in its loins,

and its power in the muscles of its belly.

40:17 It makes its tail stiff like a cedar,

the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound.

40:18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,

its limbs like bars of iron.

40:19 It ranks first among the works of God,

the One who made it

has furnished it with a sword.

40:20 For the hills bring it food,

where all the wild animals play.

40:21 Under the lotus trees it lies,

in the secrecy of the reeds and the marsh.

40:22 The lotus trees conceal it in their shadow;

the poplars by the stream conceal it.

40:23 If the river rages, it is not disturbed,

it is secure, though the Jordan

should surge up to its mouth.

40:24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes,

or pierce its nose with a snare?

The Description of Leviathan

41:1 (40:25) “Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook,

and tie down its tongue with a rope?

41:2 Can you put a cord through its nose,

or pierce its jaw with a hook?

41:3 Will it make numerous supplications to you,

will it speak to you with tender words?

41:4 Will it make a pact with you,

so you could take it as your slave for life?

41:5 Can you play with it, like a bird,

or tie it on a leash for your girls?

41:6 Will partners bargain for it?

Will they divide it up among the merchants?

41:7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons

or its head with fishing spears?

41:8 If you lay your hand on it,

you will remember the fight,

and you will never do it again!

41:9 (41:1) See, his expectation is wrong,

he is laid low even at the sight of it.

41:10 Is it not fierce when it is awakened?

Who is he, then, who can stand before it?

41:11 (Who has confronted me that I should repay?

Everything under heaven belongs to me!)

41:12 I will not keep silent about its limbs,

and the extent of its might,

and the grace of its arrangement.

41:13 Who can uncover its outer covering?

Who can penetrate to the inside of its armor?

41:14 Who can open the doors of its mouth?

Its teeth all around are fearsome.

41:15 Its back has rows of shields,

shut up closely together as with a seal;

41:16 each one is so close to the next

that no air can come between them.

41:17 They lock tightly together, one to the next;

they cling together and cannot be separated.

41:18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;

its eyes are like the red glow of dawn.

41:19 Out of its mouth go flames,

sparks of fire shoot forth!

41:20 Smoke streams from its nostrils

as from a boiling pot over burning rushes.

41:21 Its breath sets coals ablaze

and a flame shoots from its mouth.

41:22 Strength lodges in its neck,

and despair runs before it.

41:23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;

they are firm on it, immovable.

41:24 Its heart is hard as rock,

hard as a lower millstone.

41:25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified,

at its thrashing about they withdraw.

41:26 Whoever strikes it with a sword

will have no effect,

nor with the spear, arrow, or dart.

41:27 It regards iron as straw

and bronze as rotten wood.

41:28 Arrows do not make it flee;

slingstones become like chaff to it.

41:29 A club is counted as a piece of straw;

it laughs at the rattling of the lance.

41:30 Its underparts are the sharp points of potsherds,

it leaves its mark in the mud

like a threshing sledge.

41:31 It makes the deep boil like a cauldron

and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment,

41:32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;

one would think the deep had a head of white hair.

41:33 The likes of it is not on earth,

a creature without fear.

41:34 It looks on every haughty being;

it is king over all that are proud.”

Psalms 40:5

40:5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;

you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us.

No one can thwart you!

I want to declare them and talk about them,

but they are too numerous to recount!

Psalms 92:5

92:5 How great are your works, O Lord!

Your plans are very intricate!

Psalms 104:24

104:24 How many living things you have made, O Lord!

You have exhibited great skill in making all of them;

the earth is full of the living things you have made.

Isaiah 40:28

40:28 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is an eternal God,

the creator of the whole earth.

He does not get tired or weary;

there is no limit to his wisdom.

Romans 11:33

11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!