Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,
Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
2 “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
“(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!
3 Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!
I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
(“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].
5 Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
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!
6 What were its foundations fastened on? Or who laid its cornerstone,
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?]
7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb,
“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
9 when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
10 marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors,
I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
11 and said, ‘You may come here, but no further. Your proud waves shall be stopped here’?
[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!’
12 “Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place,
“Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
13 that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it?
Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?
14 It is changed as clay under the seal, and presented as a garment.
When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
15 From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
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.
16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
“[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?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
18 Have you comprehended the earth in its width? Declare, if you know it all.
Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
19 “What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,
“Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
20 that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?
Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
21 Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
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!
22 Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
“Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
23 which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
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].
24 By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?
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?
25 Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm,
Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
26 to cause it to rain on a land where there is no man, on the wilderness, in which there is no man,
Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to grow?
Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
28 Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?
Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
29 Whose womb did the ice come out of? Who has given birth to the grey frost of the sky?
And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?
30 The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen.
[In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
31 “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?
“[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
32 Can you lead the constellations out in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
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?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you?
“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
35 Can you send out lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
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?’
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
37 Who can count the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the containers of the sky,
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],
38 when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?
with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
“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?
40 when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?
41 Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
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]?”
