Job 38
1 Then answered the Lord vnto Iob out of the whirle winde, and said,
And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
2 Who is this that darkeneth the counsell by wordes without knowledge?
Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge?
3 Girde vp nowe thy loynes like a man: I will demande of thee and declare thou vnto me.
Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.
4 Where wast thou when I layd the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast vnderstanding,
Where were you when I put the earth on its base? Say, if you have knowledge.
5 Who hath layde the measures thereof, if thou knowest, or who hath stretched the line ouer it:
By whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom; or by whom was the line stretched out over it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof set: or who layed the corner stone thereof:
On what were its pillars based, or who put down its angle-stone,
7 When the starres of the morning praysed me together, and all the children of God reioyced:
When the morning stars made songs together, and all the sons of the gods gave cries of joy?
8 Or who hath shut vp the Sea with doores, when it yssued and came foorth as out of the wombe:
Or where were you when the sea came to birth, pushing out from its secret place;
9 When I made the cloudes as a couering thereof, and darkenesse as the swadeling bands thereof:
When I made the cloud its robe, and put thick clouds as bands round it,
10 When I stablished my commandement vpon it, and set barres and doores,
Ordering a fixed limit for it, with locks and doors;
11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther, and here shall it stay thy proude waues.
And said, So far you may come, and no farther; and here the pride of your waves will be stopped?
12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy dayes? hast thou caused the morning to knowe his place,
Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;
13 That it might take hold of the corners of the earth, and that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
So that it might take a grip of the skirts of the earth, shaking all the evil-doers out of it?
14 It is turned as clay to facion, and all stand vp as a garment.
It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
15 And from the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the hie arme shalbe broken.
And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.
16 Hast thou entred into the bottomes of the sea? or hast thou walked to seeke out the depth?
Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places 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 doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?
18 Hast thou perceiued the breadth of the earth? tell if thou knowest all this.
Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.
19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and where is the place of darkenesse,
Which is the way to the resting-place of the light, and where is the store-house of the dark;
20 That thou shouldest receiue it in the boundes thereof, and that thou shouldest knowe the paths to the house thereof?
So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house?
21 Knewest thou it, because thou wast then borne, and because the nomber of thy dayes is great?
No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, 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 come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,
23 Which I haue hid against the time of trouble, against the day of warre and battell?
Which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and fighting?
24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the East winde vpon the earth?
Which is the way to the place where the wind is measured out, and the east wind sent out over the earth?
25 Who hath deuided the spowtes for the raine? or the way for the lightning of ye thunders,
By whom has the way been cut for the flowing of the rain, and the flaming of the thunder;
26 To cause it to raine on the earth where no man is, and in the wildernes where there is no man?
Causing rain to come on a land where no man is living, on the waste land which has no people;
27 To fulfil the wilde and waste place, and to cause the bud of the herbe to spring forth?
To give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass?
28 Who is the father of the rayne? or who hath begotten the droppes of the dewe?
Has the rain a father? or who gave birth to the drops of night mist?
29 Out of whose wombe came the yee? who hath ingendred the frost of the heauen?
Out of whose body came the ice? and who gave birth to the cold mist of heaven?
30 The waters are hid as with a stone: and the face of the depth is frosen.
The waters are joined together, hard as a stone, and the face of the deep is covered.
31 Canst thou restraine the sweete influences of the Pleiades? or loose the bandes of Orion?
Are the bands of the Pleiades fixed by you, or are the cords of Orion made loose?
32 Canst thou bring foorth Mazzaroth in their time? canst thou also guide Arcturus with his sonnes?
Do you make Mazzaroth come out in its right time, or are the Bear and its children guided by you?
33 Knowest thou the course of heauen, or canst thou set the rule thereof in the earth?
Have you knowledge of the laws of the heavens? did you give them rule over the earth?
34 Canst thou lift vp thy voice to the cloudes that the aboundance of water may couer thee?
Is your voice sent up to the cloud, so that you may be covered by the weight of waters?
35 Canst thou sende the lightenings that they may walke, and say vnto thee, Loe, heere we are?
Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say 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 high clouds, or given knowledge to the lights of the north?
37 Who can nomber cloudes by wisedome? or who can cause to cease the bottels of heaue,
By whose wisdom are the clouds numbered, or the water-skins of the heavens turned to the earth,
38 When the earth groweth into hardnesse, and the clottes are fast together?
When the earth becomes hard as metal, and is joined together in masses?
39 Wilt thou hunt the pray for the lyon? or fill the appetite of the lyons whelpes,
Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,
40 When they couch in their places, and remaine in the couert to lye in waite?
When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood?
41 Who prepareth for the rauen his meate, when his birdes crie vnto God, wandering for lacke of meate?
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?
