Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
But the Lord, responding to Job from a whirlwind, said:
2 “Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
Who is this that wraps sentences in unskilled words?
3 Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me.
4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Where were you, when I set the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?
Who set its measurements, if you know, or who stretched a line over it?
6 On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,
Upon what have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its cornerstone,
7 while 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 noise?
8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if issuing from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,
when I stationed a cloud as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an infant?
10 when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,
I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned its bars and doors.
11 and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?
And I said: “This far you will approach, and you will proceed no further, and here you will break your swelling waves.”
12 In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,
Did you, after your birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its place?
13 that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
And did you hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and have you shaken the impious out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
The seal will be restored like clay, and it will remain in place like a garment.
15 Light is withheld from the wicked, and their upraised arm is broken.
From the impious, the light will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken.
16 Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea or walked in the trenches of the deep?
Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you taken a walk in the uttermost parts of the abyss?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Have the gates of death been opened to you, and have you seen the doors of darkness?
18 Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.
Have you considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things, reveal them to me.
19 Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides,
Which is the way that holds the light, and which is the place of darkness?
20 so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home?
In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house.
21 Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great!
So then, did you know when you were to be born? And did you know the number of your days?
22 Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,
Have you been admitted into the storehouses of the snows, and have you gazed upon the stockpile of the brimstone,
23 which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle?
which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, for the day of the battle and the war?
24 In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth?
In what way is the light scattered, and the heat distributed, over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt,
Who gave a course to the rainstorms, and a path to the resounding thunder,
26 to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,
so that it would rain on the earth far from man, in the wilderness where no mortal lingers,
27 to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass?
so that it would fill impassable and desolate places, and would bring forth green plants?
28 Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew?
Who is the father of rain, or who conceived the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb does the ice emerge? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven,
From whose womb did the ice proceed, and who created the frost from the air?
30 when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen?
The waters are hardened to become like stone, and the surface of the abyss freezes over.
31 Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?
Will you have the strength to join together the sparkling stars of the Pleiades, or are you able to disperse the circling of Arcturus?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear and her cubs?
Can you bring forth the morning star, in its time, and make the evening star rise over the sons of the earth?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?
Do you know the order of heaven, and can you explain its rules here on the earth?
34 Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you?
Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an onslaught of waters will cover you?
35 Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
Can you send forth lightning bolts, and will they go, and on returning, say to you: “Here we are?”
36 Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind?
Who placed discernment in the guts of man, or who gave the rooster intelligence?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
Who can describe the rules of the heavens, or who can put to rest the harmony of heaven?
38 when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods of earth stick together?
When was the dust cast to become the earth, and when were its clods fastened together?
39 Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions
Will you seize prey for the lioness, and will you sustain the lives of her young,
40 when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket?
as they rest in their dens or lie in wait in pits?
41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
Who provides the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as they wander around because they have no food?
