Job 38
1 Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said:
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
2 Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskillful words?
“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer thou me.
Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
4 Where wast thou when I laid up the foundations of the earth? tell me if thou hast understanding.
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner stone thereof,
On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?
while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing out of the womb:
Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
9 When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a mist as in swaddling bands?
when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,
10 I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors:
when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,
11 And I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves.
and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?
12 Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place?
In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,
13 And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it?
that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment:
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
15 From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high arm shall be broken.
Light is withheld from the wicked, and their upraised arm is broken.
16 Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the lowest parts of the deep?
Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea or walked in the trenches of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18 Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things?
Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.
19 Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place of darkness:
Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides,
20 That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof.
so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home?
21 Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born? and didst thou know the number of thy days?
Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great!
22 Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or has thou beheld the treasures of the hail:
Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,
23 Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war?
which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle?
24 By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the earth?
In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth?
25 Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy thunder:
Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt,
26 That it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth:
to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,
27 That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and should bring forth green grass?
to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass?
28 Who is the father of rain? or who begot the drops of dew?
Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice; and the frost from heaven who hath gendered it?
From whose womb does the ice emerge? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven,
30 The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed.
when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus?
Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?
32 Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make the evening star to rise upon the children of the earth?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear and her cubs?
33 Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth?
Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?
34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance of waters may cover thee?
Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you?
35 Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return and say to thee: Here we are?
Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock understanding?
Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep?
Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
38 When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods fastened together?
when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods of earth stick together?
39 Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of her whelps,
Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions
40 When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes?
when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket?
41 Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry to God, wandering about, because they have no meat?
Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
