Job 38

1 Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

2 Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Gird up now thy loins like a man, for I will demand of thee, and declare thou to me.

4 Where were thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou have understanding.

5 Who determined the measures of it, if thou know? Or who stretched the line upon it?

6 Upon what were the foundations of it fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone of it

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 forth, like it had issued out of the womb,

9 when I made clouds the garment of it, and thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,

10 and marked out for it my bound, and set bars and doors,

11 and said, This far thou shall come, but no farther, and here thy proud waves shall be stayed?

12 Have thou commanded the morning since thy days began, and caused the dayspring to know its place

13 that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

14 It is changed as clay under the seal, and all things stand forth as a garment.

15 And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the high arm is broken.

16 Have thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or have thou walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been revealed to thee? Or have thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

18 Have thou comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if thou know it all.

19 Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place of it

20 that thou should take it to the bound of it, and that thou should discern the paths to the house of it?

21 Thou know, for thou were born then, and the number of thy days is great!

22 Have thou entered the treasuries of the snow, or have thou seen the treasures of the hail,

23 which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

24 By what way is the light divided, or the east wind scattered upon the earth?

25 Who has cleft a channel for the water flood, or the way for the lightning of the thunder,

26 to cause it to rain on a land where no man is, on the wilderness, in which there is no man,

27 to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, and to cause the tender grass to spring forth?

28 Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who has engendered it?

30 The waters hide themselves and become like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

31 Can thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

32 Can thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or can thou guide the Bear with her train?

33 Do thou know the ordinances of the heavens? Can thou establish the dominion of it on the earth?

34 Can thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

35 Can thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, and say to thee, Here we are?

36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?

37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven

38 when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods cleave fast together?

39 Can thou hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions

40 when they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

41 Who provides for the raven his prey when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?