Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
And after Elius had ceased from speaking, the Lord spoke to Job through the whirlwind and clouds, [saying],
2 “Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
Who is this that hides counsel from me, and confines words in [his] heart, and thinks to conceal [them] from me?
3 Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
Gird thy loins like a man; and I will ask thee, and do thou answer me.
4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Where wast thou when I founded the earth? tell me now, if thou hast knowledge,
5 Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?
who set the measures of it, if thou knowest? or who stretched a line upon it?
6 On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,
On what are its rings fastened? and who is he that laid the corner-stone upon it?
7 while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice.
8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
And I shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed out, coming forth out its mother's womb.
9 when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,
And I made a cloud its clothing, and swathed it in mist.
10 when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,
And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates.
11 and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?
And I said to it, Hitherto shalt thou come, but thou shalt not go beyond, but thy waves shall be confined within thee.
12 In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,
Or did I order the morning light in thy time; and [did] the morning star [then first] see his appointed place;
13 that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
to lay hold of the extremities of the earth, to cast out the ungodly out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
Or didst thou take clay of the ground, and form a living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth?
15 Light is withheld from the wicked, and their upraised arm is broken.
And hast thou removed light from the ungodly, and crushed the arm of the proud?
16 Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea or walked in the trenches of the deep?
Or hast thou gone to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
And do the gates of death open to thee for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw thee? (questioned)
18 Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.
And hast thou been instructed in the breadth of the [whole earth] under heaven? tell me now, what is the extent of it?
19 Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides,
And in what kind of a land does the light dwell? and of what kind is the place of darkness?
20 so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home?
If thou couldest bring me to their [utmost] boundaries, and if also thou knowest their paths;
21 Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great!
I know then that thou wert born at that time, and the number of thy years is great.
22 Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,
But hast thou gone to the treasures of snow? and hast thou seen the treasures of hail?
23 which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle?
And is there a store [of them], for thee against the time of [thine] enemies, for the day of wars and battle?
24 In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth?
And whence proceeds the frost? or [whence] is the south wind dispersed over the [whole world] under heaven?
25 Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt,
And who prepared a course for the violent rain, and a way for the thunders;
26 to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,
to rain upon the land where [there is] no man, the wilderness, where there is not a man in it; so as to feed the untrodden and uninhabited [land],
27 to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass?
and cause it to send forth a crop of green herbs?
28 Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew?
Who is the rain's father? and who has generated the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb does the ice emerge? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven,
And out of whose womb comes the ice? and who has produced the frost in the sky,
30 when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen?
which descends like flowing water? who has terrified the face of the ungodly?
31 Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?
And dost thou understand the band of Pleias, and hast thou opened the barrier of Orion?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear and her cubs?
Or wilt thou reveal Mazuroth in his season, and the evening star with his rays? Wilt thou guide them?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?
And knowest thou the changes of heaven, or the events which take place together under heaven?
34 Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you?
And wilt thou call a cloud with thy voice, and will it obey thee with a violent shower of much rain?
35 Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
And wilt thou send lightnings, and they shall go? and shall they say to thee, What is [thy pleasure]?
36 Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind?
And who has given to women skill in weaving, or knowledge of embroidery?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
And who is he that numbers the clouds in wisdom, and has bowed the heaven [down] to the earth?
38 when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods of earth stick together?
For it is spread out as dusty earth, and I have cemented it as one hewn stone to another.
39 Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions
And wilt thou hunt a prey for the lions? and satisfy the desires of the serpents?
40 when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket?
For they fear in their lairs, and lying in wait couch in the woods.
41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
And who has prepared food for the raven? for its young ones wander and cry to the Lord, in search of food.
