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The storm makes my heart beat wildly.
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Listen, all of you, to the voice of God, to the thunder that comes from his mouth.
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He sends the lightning across the sky, from one end of the earth to the other.
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Then the roar of his voice is heard, the majestic sound of thunder, and all the while the lightning flashes.
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At God's command amazing things happen, wonderful things that we can't understand.
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He commands snow to fall on the earth, and sends torrents of drenching rain.
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He brings our work to a stop; he shows us what he can do.
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The wild animals go to their dens.
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The storm winds come from the south, and the biting cold from the north.
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The breath of God freezes the waters, and turns them to solid ice.
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Lightning flashes from the clouds,
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as they move at God's will. They do all that God commands, everywhere throughout the world.
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God sends rain to water the earth; he may send it to punish us, or to show us his favor.
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Pause a moment, Job, and listen; consider the wonderful things God does.
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Do you know how God gives the command and makes lightning flash from the clouds?
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Do you know how clouds float in the sky, the work of God's amazing skill?
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No, you can only suffer in the heat when the south wind oppresses the land.
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Can you help God stretch out the sky and make it as hard as polished metal?
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Teach us what to say to God; our minds are blank; we have nothing to say.
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I won't ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me?
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And now the light in the sky is dazzling, too bright for us to look at it; and the sky has been swept clean by the wind.
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A golden glow is seen in the north, and the glory of God fills us with awe.
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God's power is so great that we cannot come near him; he is righteous and just in his dealings with us.
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No wonder, then, that everyone is awed by him, and that he ignores those who claim to be wise.
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Then out of the storm the LORD spoke to Job.
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Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words?
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Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you.
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Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it.
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Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers?
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What holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world?
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In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, and the heavenly beings shouted for joy.
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Who closed the gates to hold back the sea when it burst from the womb of the earth?
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It was I who covered the sea with clouds and wrapped it in darkness.
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I marked a boundary for the sea and kept it behind bolted gates.
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I told it, "So far and no farther! Here your powerful waves must stop."
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Job, have you ever in all your life commanded a day to dawn?
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Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth and shake the wicked from their hiding places?
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Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out like the folds of a garment, clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.
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The light of day is too bright for the wicked and restrains them from doing violence.
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Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea? Have you walked on the floor of the ocean?
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Has anyone ever shown you the gates that guard the dark world of the dead?
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Have you any idea how big the world is? Answer me if you know.
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Do you know where the light comes from or what the source of darkness is?
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Can you show them how far to go, or send them back again?
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I am sure you can, because you're so old and were there when the world was made!
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Have you ever visited the storerooms, where I keep the snow and the hail?
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I keep them ready for times of trouble, for days of battle and war.
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Have you been to the place where the sun comes up, or the place from which the east wind blows?
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Who dug a channel for the pouring rain and cleared the way for the thunderstorm?
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Who makes rain fall where no one lives?
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Who waters the dry and thirsty land, so that grass springs up?
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Does either the rain or the dew have a father?
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Who is the mother of the ice and the frost,
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which turn the waters to stone and freeze the face of the sea?
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Can you tie the Pleiades together or loosen the bonds that hold Orion?
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Can you guide the stars season by season and direct the Big and the Little Dipper?
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Do you know the laws that govern the skies, and can you make them apply to the earth?
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Can you shout orders to the clouds and make them drench you with rain?
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And if you command the lightning to flash, will it come to you and say, "At your service"?
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Who tells the ibis when the Nile will flood, or who tells the rooster that rain will fall?
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Who is wise enough to count the clouds and tilt them over to pour out the rain,
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rain that hardens the dust into lumps?
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Do you find food for lions to eat, and satisfy hungry young lions
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when they hide in their caves, or lie in wait in their dens?
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Who is it that feeds the ravens when they wander about hungry, when their young cry to me for food?
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Now, concerning what you wrote about the gifts from the Holy Spirit. I want you to know the truth about them, my friends.
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You know that while you were still heathen, you were led astray in many ways to the worship of lifeless idols.
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I want you to know that no one who is led by God's Spirit can say "A curse on Jesus!" and no one can confess "Jesus is Lord," without being guided by the Holy Spirit.
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There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.
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There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served.
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There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service.
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The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.
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The Spirit gives one person a message full of wisdom, while to another person the same Spirit gives a message full of knowledge.
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One and the same Spirit gives faith to one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal.
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The Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of speaking God's message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said.
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But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.
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Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts.
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In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.
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For the body itself is not made up of only one part, but of many parts.
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If the foot were to say, "Because I am not a hand, I don't belong to the body," that would not keep it from being a part of the body.
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And if the ear were to say, "Because I am not an eye, I don't belong to the body," that would not keep it from being a part of the body.
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If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if it were only an ear, how could it smell?
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As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be.
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There would not be a body if it were all only one part!
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As it is, there are many parts but one body.
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So then, the eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" Nor can the head say to the feet, "Well, I don't need you!"
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On the contrary, we cannot do without the parts of the body that seem to be weaker;
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and those parts that we think aren't worth very much are the ones which we treat with greater care; while the parts of the body which don't look very nice are treated with special modesty,
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which the more beautiful parts do not need. God himself has put the body together in such a way as to give greater honor to those parts that need it.
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And so there is no division in the body, but all its different parts have the same concern for one another.
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If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness.
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All of you are Christ's body, and each one is a part of it.
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In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues.
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They are not all apostles or prophets or teachers. Not everyone has the power to work miracles
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or to heal diseases or to speak in strange tongues or to explain what is said.
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Set your hearts, then, on the more important gifts. Best of all, however, is the following way.
