Job 38
1 But the Lord, responding to Job from a whirlwind, said:
Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
2 Who is this that wraps sentences in unskilled words?
“(Who are you to question what I plan to do?/You have no right/authority to question what I plan to do.) [RHQ] You are speaking ignorantly!
3 Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me.
I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
4 Where were you, when I set the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
(“Where were you/Were you there with me) [long ago] when I (laid the foundations of/created) the earth? Since you know so much, tell me [where you were at that time].
5 Who set its measurements, if you know, or who stretched a line over it?
Do you know how I decided how large the earth would be? Do you know who stretched a measuring tape around the earth? Surely [since you think that you know so much, ] you should know that!
6 Upon what have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its cornerstone,
What supports the pillars on which the earth rests? When the stars [that shine early] in the morning sang together, and someone put in place the stone that causes the earth to stay in its place, and all the angels shouted joyfully [when they saw that happening], who laid that cornerstone? [Did you?]
7 when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful noise?
8 Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if issuing from the womb,
“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
9 when I stationed a cloud as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an infant?
It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
10 I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned its bars and doors.
I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
11 And I said: “This far you will approach, and you will proceed no further, and here you will break your swelling waves.”
[I pointed to the shore] and said to the water, ‘I permit you to come up to here, but I do not permit you to come any farther. Your powerful waves must stop there!’
12 Did you, after your birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its place?
“Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
13 And did you hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and have you shaken the impious out of it?
Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?
14 The seal will be restored like clay, and it will remain in place like a garment.
When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
15 From the impious, the light will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken.
When it becomes daylight, the wicked do not have the darkness [that they like]; [in the daylight] they no longer are able to raise up their arms, ready to hurt people.
16 Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you taken a walk in the uttermost parts of the abyss?
“[Job, ] have you traveled to the springs [in the bottom of the ocean] from which the water in the seas comes? Have you investigated/explored the very bottom of the oceans?
17 Have the gates of death been opened to you, and have you seen the doors of darkness?
Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
18 Have you considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things, reveal them to me.
Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
19 Which is the way that holds the light, and which is the place of darkness?
“Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
20 In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house.
Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
21 So then, did you know when you were to be born? And did you know the number of your days?
I am sure that you know these things, because you [talk as though you] were born before the time when all things were created; you [must] be very old!
22 Have you been admitted into the storehouses of the snows, and have you gazed upon the stockpile of the brimstone,
“Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
23 which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, for the day of the battle and the war?
I store the snow and the hail [in order that I can use them to help my people] when [they have] troubles, in times when [they are fighting] wars [DOU].
24 In what way is the light scattered, and the heat distributed, over the earth?
And where is the road to the place from which I cause the lightning to flash? Where is the place from where the east wind begins to blow over all the earth?
25 Who gave a course to the rainstorms, and a path to the resounding thunder,
Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
26 so that it would rain on the earth far from man, in the wilderness where no mortal lingers,
Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
27 so that it would fill impassable and desolate places, and would bring forth green plants?
Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
28 Who is the father of rain, or who conceived the drops of dew?
Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
29 From whose womb did the ice proceed, and who created the frost from the air?
And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?
30 The waters are hardened to become like stone, and the surface of the abyss freezes over.
[In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
31 Will you have the strength to join together the sparkling stars of the Pleiades, or are you able to disperse the circling of Arcturus?
“[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
32 Can you bring forth the morning star, in its time, and make the evening star rise over the sons of the earth?
Can you tell the stars when they should shine? Can you guide [the stars in the groups in the northern sky whose names are] the Big Bear and the Little Bear?
33 Do you know the order of heaven, and can you explain its rules here on the earth?
Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an onslaught of waters will cover you?
“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
35 Can you send forth lightning bolts, and will they go, and on returning, say to you: “Here we are?”
Can you cause flashes of lightning to come down and strike where you want it to strike? Do those flashes say to you, ‘Where do you want us to strike next?’
36 Who placed discernment in the guts of man, or who gave the rooster intelligence?
Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
37 Who can describe the rules of the heavens, or who can put to rest the harmony of heaven?
And who is skilled/wise enough to be able to count the clouds? Who can tilt the jugs of water in the sky [to cause the rain to fall],
38 When was the dust cast to become the earth, and when were its clods fastened together?
with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
39 Will you seize prey for the lioness, and will you sustain the lives of her young,
“When a lioness and her cubs crouch in their dens or hide in a thicket, [waiting for some animal to pass by that they can kill, ] can you find animals for a lioness to kill so that [she and] her cubs can [eat the meat and] not be hungry any more?
40 as they rest in their dens or lie in wait in pits?
41 Who provides the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as they wander around because they have no food?
Who provides dead animals for crows, when the baby crows are calling out to me [for food], [when they are so weak] because of their lack of food [that] they (stagger around/can hardly stand up) [in their nests]?”
