And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is turned around by his guidance, that they may do whatever he commands them on the surface of the habitable world,
- BSB They swirl about, whirling at His direction, accomplishing all that He commands over the face of all the earth.
- NKJV And they swirl about, being turned by His guidance, That they may do whatever He commands them On the face of the whole earth.
- NASB “It changes direction, turning around by His guidance, That it may do whatever He commands it On the face of the inhabited earth.
- NLT The clouds churn about at his direction. They do whatever he commands throughout the earth.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The clouds move and turn exactly as God directs them to fulfill his purposes across the whole inhabited earth. Nothing in creation drifts at random.
Overview
Elihu stresses that the weather is steered by God's guidance to accomplish whatever he commands over the habitable world. Even seemingly chaotic storms are obedient instruments of divine will. This providential ordering of creation anticipates God's questioning of Job about who truly governs the natural order.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 148:8Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
- Joel 2:23Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
- Ps 104:24O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
- Jas 5:17–18Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
- Rev 11:6These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
- Amos 4:7And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
- Ps 65:9–10Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.
- Jer 14:22Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 37:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.