< Job 38 >
1 Then Yahweh called to Job out of a fierce storm and said,
Then Yahweh responded to Job, out of a storm, and said: —
2 “Who is this who brings darkness to plans by means of words without knowledge?
Who is it that darkeneth counsel, by words, without knowledge?
3 Now gird up your loins like a man for I will ask you questions, and you must answer me.
Gird, I pray thee—like a strong man—thy loins, that I may ask thee, and inform thou me:
4 Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tell me, if you have so much understanding.
Where wast thou, when I founded the earth? Tell, if thou knowest understanding!
5 Who determined its dimensions? Tell me, if you know. Who stretched the measuring line over it?
Who set the measurements thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched out over it a line?
6 On what were its foundations laid? Who laid its cornerstone
Whereon were the pedestals thereof sunk? Or who laid the corner stone thereof; —
7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst out, as if it had come out of the womb—
Or [who] shut in, with double doors, the sea, when, bursting out of the womb, it came forth;
9 when I made clouds its clothing, and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
When I put a cloud as the garment thereof, and a thick cloud as the swaddling-band thereof;
10 That was when I marked out for the sea my boundary, and when I placed its bars and doors,
And brake off for it my boundary, and fixed a bar and double doors;
11 and when I said to it, 'You may come this far, but no farther; here is where I will put a boundary to the pride of your waves.'
And said—Hitherto, shalt thou come, and no further, —and, here, shalt thou set a limit to the majesty of thy waves?
12 Have you given orders to the morning, or caused the dawn to know its place,
Since thy days [began] hast thou commanded the morning? or caused the dawn to know its place;
13 so that it might take hold of the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
That it might lay hold of the wings of the earth, and the lawless be shaken out of it?
14 The earth is changed in appearance like clay changes under a seal; all things on it stand out clearly like the folds of a piece of clothing.
It transformeth itself like the clay of a seal, so that things stand forth like one arrayed;
15 From wicked people their 'light' is taken away; their uplifted arm is broken.
That their light may be withdrawn from the lawless, and, the lofty arm, be shivered.
16 Have you gone to the sources of the waters of the sea? Have you walked in the lowest parts of the deep?
Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? Or, through the secret recesses of the resounding deep, hast thou wandered?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee? And, the gates of the death-shade, couldst thou descry?
18 Have you understood the earth in its expanse? Tell me, if you know it all.
Hast thou well considered, even the breadths of the earth? Tell—if thou knowest it all!
19 Where is the way to the resting place of light— as for darkness, where is its place?
Where then is the way, the light shall abide? And, the darkness, where then is its place?
20 Can you lead light and darkness to their places of work? Can you find the way back to their houses for them?
That thou mayest conduct it unto the bound thereof, and that thou mayest perceive the paths to its house.
21 Undoubtedly you know, for you were born then; the number of your days is so large!
Thou knowest, for, then, hadst thou been born! And, in number, thy days are many!
22 Have you entered the storehouses for the snow, or have you seen the storehouses for the hail,
Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? And, the treasuries of the hail, couldst thou see?
23 these things that I have kept for times of trouble, for days of battle and war?
Which I have reserved for a time of distress, for the day of conflict and of war?
24 What is the path to where the lightning bolts are distributed or to where the winds are scattered from the east over the earth?
Where then is the way the lightning is parted? The east wind spreadeth itself abroad over the earth.
25 Who has created the channels for the floods of rain, or who has made a path for the thunder,
Who hath cloven—for the torrent—a channel? Or a way for the lightning of thunders;
26 to cause it to rain on lands where no person exists, and on the wilderness, in which there is no one,
To give rain over the no-man’s land, the desert, where no son of earth is;
27 to satisfy the devastated and desolate places, and to make the ground sprout with grass?
To satisfy the wild and the wilderness, to cause to spring forth the meadow of young grass?
28 Does the rain have a father, or, who fathers the drops of dew?
Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb did the ice come? Who bore the white frost out of the sky?
Out of whose womb, came forth the ice? And, the hoar-frost of the heavens, who hath given it birth?
30 The waters hide themselves and become like stone; the surface of the deep becomes frozen.
Like a stone, are the waters congealed, and, the face of the roaring deep, becometh firm!
31 Can you fasten chains on the Pleiades, or undo the cords of Orion?
Canst thou bind the fetters of the Pleiades? Or, the bands of Orion, canst thou unloose?
32 Can you lead the constellations to appear at their proper times? Can you guide the Bear with its children?
Canst thou bring forth the signs of the Zodiac each in its season? Or, the Bear and her Young, canst thou lead?
33 Do you know the regulations of the sky? Could you set in place the sky's rule over the earth?
Knowest thou, the statutes of the heavens? Or didst thou appoint his dominion over the earth?
34 Can you raise your voice up to the clouds, so that an abundance of rainwater may cover you?
Canst thou lift up, to the thick cloud, thy voice, and the overflow of waters cover thee?
35 Can you send out bolts of lightning that they may go out, that they say to you, 'Here we are'?
Canst thou send forth the lightnings, so that they go, and say to thee, Behold us?
36 Who has put wisdom in the clouds or has given understanding to the mists?
Who hath put—into cloud-forms—wisdom? Or who hath given—to the meteor—understanding?
37 Who can number the clouds by his skill? Who can pour out the water skins of the sky
Who can count the thin clouds, in wisdom? And, the bottles of the heavens, who can empty out;
38 when the dust runs into a hard mass and the clods of earth clump tightly together?
When the dust is cast into a clod, and the lumps are bound together?
39 Can you hunt down a victim for a lioness or satisfy the appetite of her young lion cubs
Wilt thou hunt—for the Lioness—prey? Or, the craving of the Strong Lion, wilt thou satisfy;
40 when they are crouching in their dens and sheltering in hiding to lie in wait?
When they settle down in dens, abide in covert, for lying in wait?
41 Who provides victims for the ravens when their young ones cry out to God and stagger about for lack of food?
Who prepareth for the Raven his nourishment, —when his young ones—unto GOD—cry out, [when] they wander for lack of food?