Job 38
1 Then answered the Lord vnto Iob out of the whirle winde, and said,
Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
2 Who is this that darkeneth the counsell by wordes without knowledge?
“(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 Girde vp nowe thy loynes like a man: I will demande of thee and declare thou vnto 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 wast thou when I layd the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast vnderstanding,
(“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 hath layde the measures thereof, if thou knowest, or who hath stretched the line ouer 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 Whereupon are the foundations thereof set: or who layed the corner stone thereof:
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 starres of the morning praysed me together, and all the children of God reioyced:
8 Or who hath shut vp the Sea with doores, when it yssued and came foorth as out of the wombe:
“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
9 When I made the cloudes as a couering thereof, and darkenesse as the swadeling bands thereof:
It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
10 When I stablished my commandement vpon it, and set barres and doores,
I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther, and here shall it stay thy proude waues.
[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 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy dayes? hast thou caused the morning to knowe his place,
“Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
13 That it might take hold of the corners of the earth, and that the wicked might be shaken 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 It is turned as clay to facion, and all stand vp as a garment.
When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
15 And from the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the hie arme shalbe 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 Hast thou entred into the bottomes of the sea? or hast thou walked to seeke out the depth?
“[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 Haue the gates of death bene opened vnto thee? or hast thou seene the gates of the shadowe of death?
Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
18 Hast thou perceiued the breadth of the earth? tell if thou knowest all this.
Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and where is the place of darkenesse,
“Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
20 That thou shouldest receiue it in the boundes thereof, and that thou shouldest knowe the paths to the house thereof?
Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
21 Knewest thou it, because thou wast then borne, and because the nomber of thy dayes is great?
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 Hast thou entred into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seene the treasures of ye haile,
“Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
23 Which I haue hid against the time of trouble, against the day of warre and battell?
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 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the East winde vpon 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 hath deuided the spowtes for the raine? or the way for the lightning of ye thunders,
Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
26 To cause it to raine on the earth where no man is, and in the wildernes where there is no man?
Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
27 To fulfil the wilde and waste place, and to cause the bud of the herbe to spring forth?
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 the rayne? or who hath begotten the droppes of the dewe?
Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
29 Out of whose wombe came the yee? who hath ingendred the frost of the heauen?
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 hid as with a stone: and the face of the depth is frosen.
[In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
31 Canst thou restraine the sweete influences of the Pleiades? or loose the bandes of Orion?
“[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
32 Canst thou bring foorth Mazzaroth in their time? canst thou also guide Arcturus with his sonnes?
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 Knowest thou the course of heauen, or canst thou set the rule thereof in 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 Canst thou lift vp thy voice to the cloudes that the aboundance of water may couer thee?
“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
35 Canst thou sende the lightenings that they may walke, and say vnto thee, Loe, heere 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 hath put wisedome in the reines? or who hath giuen the heart vnderstanding?
Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
37 Who can nomber cloudes by wisedome? or who can cause to cease the bottels of heaue,
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 the earth groweth into hardnesse, and the clottes are fast together?
with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
39 Wilt thou hunt the pray for the lyon? or fill the appetite of the lyons whelpes,
“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 When they couch in their places, and remaine in the couert to lye in waite?
41 Who prepareth for the rauen his meate, when his birdes crie vnto God, wandering for lacke of meate?
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]?”
