Job 38

1 And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, 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 makes the purpose of God dark 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 Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.

Gird your loins like a man; and I will ask you, and do you answer me.

4 Where were you when I put the earth on its base? Say, if you have knowledge.

Where was you when I founded the earth? tell me now, if you have knowledge,

5 By whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom; or by whom was the line stretched out over it?

who set the measures of it, if you know? or who stretched a line upon it?

6 On what were its pillars based, or who put down its angle-stone,

On what are its rings fastened? and who is he that laid the corner-stone upon it?

7 When the morning stars made songs together, and all the sons of the gods gave cries of joy?

When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice.

8 Or where were you when the sea came to birth, pushing out from its secret place;

And I shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed out, coming forth out its mother's womb.

9 When I made the cloud its robe, and put thick clouds as bands round it,

And I made a cloud its clothing, and swathed it in mist.

10 Ordering a fixed limit for it, with locks and doors;

And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates.

11 And said, So far you may come, and no farther; and here the pride of your waves will be stopped?

And I said to it, Hitherto shall you come, but you shall not go beyond, but your waves shall be confined within you.

12 Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;

Or did I order the morning light in your time; and [did] the morning star [then first] see his appointed place;

13 So that it might take a grip of the skirts of the earth, shaking all the evil-doers out of it?

to lay hold of the extremities of the earth, to cast out the ungodly out of it?

14 It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;

Or did you take clay of the ground, and form a living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth?

15 And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.

And have you removed light from the ungodly, and crushed the arm of the proud?

16 Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places of the deep?

Or have you gone to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the deep?

17 Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?

And do the gates of death open to you for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw you? (questioned)

18 Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.

And have you been instructed in the breadth of the [whole earth] under heaven? tell me now, what is the extent of it?

19 Which is the way to the resting-place of the light, and where is the store-house of the dark;

And in what kind of a land does the light dwell? and of what kind is the place of darkness?

20 So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house?

If you could bring me to their [utmost] boundaries, and if also you know their paths;

21 No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.

I know then that you were born at that time, and the number of your years is great.

22 Have you come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,

But have you gone to the treasures of snow? and have you seen the treasures of hail?

23 Which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and fighting?

And is there a store [of them], for you against the time of [your] enemies, for the day of wars and battle?

24 Which is the way to the place where the wind is measured out, and the east wind sent out over the earth?

And whence proceeds the frost? or [whence] is the south wind dispersed over the [whole world] under heaven?

25 By whom has the way been cut for the flowing of the rain, and the flaming of the thunder;

And who prepared a course for the violent rain, and a way for the thunders;

26 Causing rain to come on a land where no man is living, on the waste land which has no people;

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 give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass?

and cause it to send forth a crop of green herbs?

28 Has the rain a father? or who gave birth to the drops of night mist?

Who is the rain's father? and who has generated the drops of dew?

29 Out of whose body came the ice? and who gave birth to the cold mist of heaven?

And out of whose womb comes the ice? and who has produced the frost in the sky,

30 The waters are joined together, hard as a stone, and the face of the deep is covered.

which descends like flowing water? who has terrified the face of the ungodly?

31 Are the bands of the Pleiades fixed by you, or are the cords of Orion made loose?

And do you understand the band of Pleias, and have you opened the barrier of Orion?

32 Do you make Mazzaroth come out in its right time, or are the Bear and its children guided by you?

Or will you reveal Mazuroth in his season, and the evening star with his rays? Will you guide them?

33 Have you knowledge of the laws of the heavens? did you give them rule over the earth?

And know you the changes of heaven, or the events which take place together under heaven?

34 Is your voice sent up to the cloud, so that you may be covered by the weight of waters?

And will you call a cloud with your voice, and will it obey you with a violent shower of much rain?

35 Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?

And will you send lightnings, and they shall go? and shall they say to you, What is [your pleasure]?

36 Who has put wisdom in the high clouds, or given knowledge to the lights of the north?

And who has given to women skill in weaving, or knowledge of embroidery?

37 By whose wisdom are the clouds numbered, or the water-skins of the heavens turned to the earth,

And who is he that numbers the clouds in wisdom, and has bowed the heaven [down] to the earth?

38 When the earth becomes hard as metal, and is joined together in masses?

For it is spread out as dusty earth, and I have cemented it as one hewn stone to another.

39 Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,

And will you hunt a prey for the lions? and satisfy the desires of the serpents?

40 When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood?

For they fear in their lairs, and lying in wait couch in the woods.

41 Who gives in the evening the meat he is searching for, when his young ones are crying to God; when the young lions with loud noise go wandering after their food?

And who has prepared food for the raven? for its young ones wander and cry to the Lord, in search of food.