Job 38
1 And YHWH answers Job out of the whirlwind and says:
Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
2 “Who [is] this—darkening counsel, By words without knowledge?
Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Now gird your loins as a man, And I ask you, and you cause Me to know.
Gird up now thy loins like a man, for I will demand of thee, and declare thou to me.
4 Where were you when I founded the earth? Declare, if you have known understanding.
Where were thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou have understanding.
5 Who placed its measures—if you know? Or who has stretched out a line on it?
Who determined the measures of it, if thou know? Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what have its sockets been sunk? Or who has cast its cornerstone—
Upon what were the foundations of it fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone of it
7 In the singing together of [the] stars of morning, When all [the] sons of God shout for joy?
when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 And He shuts up the sea with doors, In its coming forth, it goes out from the womb.
Or who shut up the sea with doors when it broke forth, like it had issued out of the womb,
9 In My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band,
when I made clouds the garment of it, and thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,
10 And I measure My statute over it, And place bar and doors,
and marked out for it my bound, and set bars and doors,
11 And say, To here you come, and no more, And a command is placed On the pride of your billows.
and said, This far thou shall come, but no farther, and here thy proud waves shall be stayed?
12 Have you commanded morning since your days? Do you cause the dawn to know its place?
Have thou commanded the morning since thy days began, and caused the dayspring to know its place
13 To take hold on the skirts of the earth, And the wicked are shaken out of it,
that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It turns itself as clay of a seal And they station themselves as clothed.
It is changed as clay under the seal, and all things stand forth as a garment.
15 And their light is withheld from the wicked, And the arm lifted up is broken.
And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the high arm is broken.
16 Have you come to springs of the sea? And in searching the deep Have you walked up and down?
Have thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or have thou walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Were the gates of death revealed to you? And do you see the gates of death-shade?
Have the gates of death been revealed to thee? Or have thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18 You have understanding, Even to the broad places of earth! Declare—if you have known it all.
Have thou comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if thou know it all.
19 Where [is] this—the way light dwells? And darkness, where [is] this—its place?
Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place of it
20 That you take it to its boundary, And that you understand the paths of its house.
that thou should take it to the bound of it, and that thou should discern the paths to the house of it?
21 You have known—for then you are born, And the number of your days [are] many!
Thou know, for thou were born then, and the number of thy days is great!
22 Have you come to the treasure of snow? Indeed, do you see the treasures of hail,
Have thou entered the treasuries of the snow, or have thou seen the treasures of the hail,
23 That I have kept back for a time of distress, For a day of conflict and battle?
which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24 Where [is] this, the way light is apportioned? It scatters an east wind over the earth.
By what way is the light divided, or the east wind scattered upon the earth?
25 Who has divided a conduit for the flood? And a way for the lightning of the voices?
Who has cleft a channel for the water flood, or the way for the lightning of the thunder,
26 To cause [it] to rain on a land [with] no man, A wilderness [with] no man in it.
to cause it to rain on a land where no man is, on the wilderness, in which there is no man,
27 To satisfy a desolate and ruined place, And to cause to shoot up The produce of the tender grass?
to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, and to cause the tender grass to spring forth?
28 Does the rain have a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 From whose belly came forth the ice? And the hoarfrost of the heavens, Who has begotten it?
Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who has engendered it?
30 Waters are hidden as a stone, And the face of the deep is captured.
The waters hide themselves and become like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 Do you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Or do you open the cords of Orion?
Can thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Do you bring out the twelve signs in [their] season? And do you comfort the Great Bear over her sons?
Can thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or can thou guide the Bear with her train?
33 Have you known the statutes of the heavens? Or do you appoint Its dominion in the earth?
Do thou know the ordinances of the heavens? Can thou establish the dominion of it on the earth?
34 Do you lift up your voice to the cloud, And abundance of water covers you?
Can thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Do you send out lightnings, and they go And say to you, Behold us?
Can thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, and say to thee, Here we are?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the covered part?
Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
37 Who numbers the clouds by wisdom? And the bottles of the heavens, Who causes to lie down,
Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven
38 In the hardening of dust into hardness, And clods cleave together?
when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods cleave fast together?
39 Do you hunt prey for a lion? And fulfill the desire of young lions?
Can thou hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions
40 When they bow down in dens—Abide in a thicket for a covert?
when they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 Who prepares for a raven his provision, When his young ones cry to God? They wander without food.”
Who provides for the raven his prey when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
