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