The two lines of this verse are closely parallel in meaning and have been rearranged by Good News Translation so that the first line contains both subjects. Nature is here personified as speaking.

The deep says, ‘It is not in me’: The deep refers to the water beneath the earth from which the sea is fed, and which is the source of floods in Genesis 7.11. The parallelism of The deep and the sea in line b occurs again in 38.16. Good News Translation “depths of the oceans” expresses the idea adequately. Revised Standard Version reflects the Hebrew structure, in which The deep speaks directly.

And the sea says, ‘It is not with me’: the slight difference in the quoted words is not significant. Translators may find the parallelism so close in meaning that the two lines may be handled as a single thought. In many languages the sea cannot be personified as speaking directly or indirectly. In such cases we may translate, for example, “Wisdom is not found in the deepest parts of the oceans,” or actively, “You will not find wisdom at the bottom of the sea.” For comments on the translation of sea in areas where seas are unknown, see 6.3; 12.8.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .