Job 38
1 Then answered the Lord vnto Iob out of the whirle winde, and said,
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
2 Who is this that darkeneth the counsell by wordes without knowledge?
“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Girde vp nowe thy loynes like a man: I will demande of thee and declare thou vnto me.
Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
4 Where wast thou when I layd the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast vnderstanding,
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
5 Who hath layde the measures thereof, if thou knowest, or who hath stretched the line ouer it:
Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof set: or who layed the corner stone thereof:
On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the starres of the morning praysed me together, and all the children of God reioyced:
while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Or who hath shut vp the Sea with doores, when it yssued and came foorth as out of the wombe:
Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
9 When I made the cloudes as a couering thereof, and darkenesse as the swadeling bands thereof:
when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,
10 When I stablished my commandement vpon it, and set barres and doores,
when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,
11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther, and here shall it stay thy proude waues.
and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?
12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy dayes? hast thou caused the morning to knowe his place,
In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,
13 That it might take hold of the corners of the earth, and that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
14 It is turned as clay to facion, and all stand vp as a garment.
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
15 And from the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the hie arme shalbe broken.
Light is withheld from the wicked, and their upraised arm is broken.
16 Hast thou entred into the bottomes of the sea? or hast thou walked to seeke out the depth?
Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea or walked in the trenches of the deep?
17 Haue the gates of death bene opened vnto thee? or hast thou seene the gates of the shadowe of death?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18 Hast thou perceiued the breadth of the earth? tell if thou knowest all this.
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 darkenesse,
Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides,
20 That thou shouldest receiue it in the boundes thereof, and that thou shouldest knowe the paths to the house thereof?
so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home?
21 Knewest thou it, because thou wast then borne, and because the nomber of thy dayes is great?
Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great!
22 Hast thou entred into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seene the treasures of ye haile,
Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,
23 Which I haue hid against the time of trouble, against the day of warre and battell?
which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle?
24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the East winde vpon the earth?
In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth?
25 Who hath deuided the spowtes for the raine? or the way for the lightning of ye thunders,
Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt,
26 To cause it to raine on the earth where no man is, and in the wildernes where there is no man?
to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,
27 To fulfil the wilde and waste place, and to cause the bud of the herbe to spring forth?
to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass?
28 Who is the father of the rayne? or who hath begotten the droppes of the dewe?
Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose wombe came the yee? who hath ingendred the frost of the heauen?
From whose womb does the ice emerge? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven,
30 The waters are hid as with a stone: and the face of the depth is frosen.
when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 Canst thou restraine the sweete influences of the Pleiades? or loose the bandes of Orion?
Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?
32 Canst thou bring foorth Mazzaroth in their time? canst thou also guide Arcturus with his sonnes?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear and her cubs?
33 Knowest thou the course of heauen, or canst thou set the rule thereof in the earth?
Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?
34 Canst thou lift vp thy voice to the cloudes that the aboundance of water may couer thee?
Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you?
35 Canst thou sende the lightenings that they may walke, and say vnto thee, Loe, heere we are?
Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who hath put wisedome in the reines? or who hath giuen the heart vnderstanding?
Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who can nomber cloudes by wisedome? or who can cause to cease the bottels of heaue,
Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
38 When the earth groweth into hardnesse, and the clottes are fast together?
when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods of earth stick together?
39 Wilt thou hunt the pray for the lyon? or fill the appetite of the lyons whelpes,
Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions
40 When they couch in their places, and remaine in the couert to lye in waite?
when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket?
41 Who prepareth for the rauen his meate, when his birdes crie vnto God, wandering for lacke of meate?
Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
