Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,
Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said:
2 “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskillful words?
3 Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!
Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer thou me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
Where wast thou when I laid up the foundations of the earth? tell me if thou hast understanding.
5 Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 What were its foundations fastened on? Or who laid its cornerstone,
Upon what are its bases grounded? 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 praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?
8 “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb,
Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing out of the womb:
9 when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a mist as in swaddling bands?
10 marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors,
I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors:
11 and said, ‘You may come here, but no further. Your proud waves shall be stopped here’?
And I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves.
12 “Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place,
Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place?
13 that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it?
And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it?
14 It is changed as clay under the seal, and presented as a garment.
The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment:
15 From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high arm shall be broken.
16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the lowest parts of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors?
18 Have you comprehended the earth in its width? Declare, if you know it all.
Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things?
19 “What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,
Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place of darkness:
20 that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?
That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof.
21 Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born? and didst thou know the number of thy days?
22 Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or has thou beheld the treasures of the hail:
23 which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?
By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the earth?
25 Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm,
Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy thunder:
26 to cause it to rain on a land where there is no man, on the wilderness, in which there is no man,
That it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth:
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to grow?
That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and should bring forth green grass?
28 Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?
Who is the father of rain? or who begot the drops of dew?
29 Whose womb did the ice come out of? Who has given birth to the grey frost of the sky?
Out of whose womb came the ice; and the frost from heaven who hath gendered it?
30 The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen.
The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed.
31 “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?
Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus?
32 Can you lead the constellations out in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make the evening star to rise upon the children of the earth?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth?
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you?
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Can you send out lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return and say to thee: Here we are?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock understanding?
37 Who can count the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the containers of the sky,
Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep?
38 when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?
When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods fastened together?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of her whelps,
40 when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?
When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes?
41 Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry to God, wandering about, because they have no meat?
