Job 38
1 Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
Then did the Lord address Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
2 “(Who are you to question what I plan to do?/You have no right/authority to question what I plan to do.) [RHQ] You are speaking ignorantly!
Who is this that casteth darkness [on my] counsel by words without knowledge?
3 I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
Do but gird up like a mighty man thy loins: and I will ask thee, and do thou inform me.
4 (“Where were you/Were you there with me) [long ago] when I (laid the foundations of/created) the earth? Since you know so much, tell me [where you were at that time].
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? tell it, if thou hast any understanding [of it].
5 Do you know how I decided how large the earth would be? Do you know who stretched a measuring tape around the earth? Surely [since you think that you know so much, ] you should know that!
Who fixed her measurements, if thou knowest it? or who stretched the measuring-line over her?
6 What supports the pillars on which the earth rests? When the stars [that shine early] in the morning sang together, and someone put in place the stone that causes the earth to stay in its place, and all the angels shouted joyfully [when they saw that happening], who laid that cornerstone? [Did you?]
Upon what are her foundation-pillars placed at rest? or who laid her corner-stone:
When altogether sang the morning stars in gladness, and shouted for joy all the sons of God?
8 “When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
And who closed up with doors the sea, when, issuing forth, it came out of the deep bosom of the earth?
9 It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
When I made the clouds its garment, and thick fog its swaddling-cloth,
10 I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
And when I decreed for it my law, and set [for it] bars and doors,
11 [I pointed to the shore] and said to the water, ‘I permit you to come up to here, but I do not permit you to come any farther. Your powerful waves must stop there!’
And said, Thus far mayest thou come, but no farther; and here shall be stayed [thy strength] in the pride of thy waves?
12 “Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
Didst thou ever, in all thy days, command the morning; didst thou ever assign the morning-dawn its place:
13 Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?
That it might lay hold of the ends of the earth, so that the wicked might be shaken out therefrom?
14 When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
She is changed as the sealing-clay: and [all things] stand as though newly clad.
15 When it becomes daylight, the wicked do not have the darkness [that they like]; [in the daylight] they no longer are able to raise up their arms, ready to hurt people.
And from the wicked is their light withdrawn, and the high-raised arm is broken.
16 “[Job, ] have you traveled to the springs [in the bottom of the ocean] from which the water in the seas comes? Have you investigated/explored the very bottom of the oceans?
Didst thou ever penetrate as far as the springs of the sea? or wander through the bottom of the deep?
17 Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
Were the gates of death ever laid open unto thee? or canst thou see the doors of the shadow of death?
18 Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
Hast thou a clear understanding of the breadth of the earth? Tell it, if thou knowest it all.
19 “Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
Where is the way [to the spot where] the light dwelleth? and the darkness—where is its place,
20 Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
That thou mightest take each to its boundary, and that thou mightest mark the pathways to its house?
21 I am sure that you know these things, because you [talk as though you] were born before the time when all things were created; you [must] be very old!
Thou [surely] knowest it; because thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!
22 “Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
Didst thou ever enter into the treasuries of the snow? or canst thou see the treasuries of the hail,
23 I store the snow and the hail [in order that I can use them to help my people] when [they have] troubles, in times when [they are fighting] wars [DOU].
Which I have reserved for the time of distress, for the day of fight and battle?
24 And where is the road to the place from which I cause the lightning to flash? Where is the place from where the east wind begins to blow over all the earth?
Where is the way [to the spot where] the light divideth itself, [where] the east wind is scattered over the earth?
25 Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
Who hath divided off watercourses for the overflowing rain, and a way for the lightning [that is followed by] thunders,
26 Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
To bring rain on a land, void of men; on a wilderness wherein no son of earth [is found];
27 Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
To satisfy waste and desolate lands; and to promote the growth of the tender grass?
28 Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of the dew?
29 And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?
Out of whose womb cometh forth the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven—who giveth birth to it?
30 [In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
[When] like a stone the waters are congealed, and the face of the deep is bound in fetters?
31 “[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
Canst thou bind together the chains of the Pleiades, or loosen the bands of Orion?
32 Can you tell the stars when they should shine? Can you guide [the stars in the groups in the northern sky whose names are] the Big Bear and the Little Bear?
Canst thou bring forth the constellations of the zodiac, each in its season? or canst thou guide the Bear with its young?
33 Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
Knowest thou the laws of heaven? or dost thou appoint its rule on the earth?
34 “Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
Canst thou lift up to the clouds thy voice, that the abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Can you cause flashes of lightning to come down and strike where you want it to strike? Do those flashes say to you, ‘Where do you want us to strike next?’
Canst thou send out lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here are we?
36 Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
Who hath put wisdom in the dark clouds? or who hath given understanding to the bright meteors?
37 And who is skilled/wise enough to be able to count the clouds? Who can tilt the jugs of water in the sky [to cause the rain to fall],
Who ordaineth the skies with wisdom? or who emptieth out the bottles of heaven.
38 with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
When the dust is poured out as molten metal, and the clods are made to cleave fast together?
39 “When a lioness and her cubs crouch in their dens or hide in a thicket, [waiting for some animal to pass by that they can kill, ] can you find animals for a lioness to kill so that [she and] her cubs can [eat the meat and] not be hungry any more?
Dost thou hunt for the lioness her prey? and suppliest thou the food for the young lions,
When they are couched in their lairs, rest in the thicket, lying in wait?
41 Who provides dead animals for crows, when the baby crows are calling out to me [for food], [when they are so weak] because of their lack of food [that] they (stagger around/can hardly stand up) [in their nests]?”
Who provideth for the raven his provision? when his young ones cry unto God, and wander about for lack of food?
