Job 38
1 And YHWH answers Job out of the whirlwind and says:
And after Elius had ceased from speaking, the Lord spoke to Job through the whirlwind and clouds, [saying],
2 “Who [is] this—darkening counsel, By words without knowledge?
Who is this that hides counsel from me, and confines words in [his] heart, and thinks to conceal [them] from me?
3 Now gird your loins as a man, And I ask you, and you cause Me to know.
Gird thy loins like a man; and I will ask thee, and do thou answer me.
4 Where were you when I founded the earth? Declare, if you have known understanding.
Where wast thou when I founded the earth? tell me now, if thou hast knowledge,
5 Who placed its measures—if you know? Or who has stretched out a line on it?
who set the measures of it, if thou knowest? or who stretched a line upon it?
6 On what have its sockets been sunk? Or who has cast its cornerstone—
On what are its rings fastened? and who is he that laid the corner-stone upon it?
7 In the singing together of [the] stars of morning, When all [the] sons of God shout for joy?
When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice.
8 And He shuts up the sea with doors, In its coming forth, it goes out from the womb.
And I shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed out, coming forth out its mother's womb.
9 In My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band,
And I made a cloud its clothing, and swathed it in mist.
10 And I measure My statute over it, And place bar and doors,
And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates.
11 And say, To here you come, and no more, And a command is placed On the pride of your billows.
And I said to it, Hitherto shalt thou come, but thou shalt not go beyond, but thy waves shall be confined within thee.
12 Have you commanded morning since your days? Do you cause the dawn to know its place?
Or did I order the morning light in thy time; and [did] the morning star [then first] see his appointed place;
13 To take hold on the skirts of the earth, And the wicked are shaken out of it,
to lay hold of the extremities of the earth, to cast out the ungodly out of it?
14 It turns itself as clay of a seal And they station themselves as clothed.
Or didst thou take clay of the ground, and form a living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth?
15 And their light is withheld from the wicked, And the arm lifted up is broken.
And hast thou removed light from the ungodly, and crushed the arm of the proud?
16 Have you come to springs of the sea? And in searching the deep Have you walked up and down?
Or hast thou gone to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the deep?
17 Were the gates of death revealed to you? And do you see the gates of death-shade?
And do the gates of death open to thee for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw thee? (questioned)
18 You have understanding, Even to the broad places of earth! Declare—if you have known it all.
And hast thou been instructed in the breadth of the [whole earth] under heaven? tell me now, what is the extent of it?
19 Where [is] this—the way light dwells? And darkness, where [is] this—its place?
And in what kind of a land does the light dwell? and of what kind is the place of darkness?
20 That you take it to its boundary, And that you understand the paths of its house.
If thou couldest bring me to their [utmost] boundaries, and if also thou knowest their paths;
21 You have known—for then you are born, And the number of your days [are] many!
I know then that thou wert born at that time, and the number of thy years is great.
22 Have you come to the treasure of snow? Indeed, do you see the treasures of hail,
But hast thou gone to the treasures of snow? and hast thou seen the treasures of hail?
23 That I have kept back for a time of distress, For a day of conflict and battle?
And is there a store [of them], for thee against the time of [thine] enemies, for the day of wars and battle?
24 Where [is] this, the way light is apportioned? It scatters an east wind over the earth.
And whence proceeds the frost? or [whence] is the south wind dispersed over the [whole world] under heaven?
25 Who has divided a conduit for the flood? And a way for the lightning of the voices?
And who prepared a course for the violent rain, and a way for the thunders;
26 To cause [it] to rain on a land [with] no man, A wilderness [with] no man in it.
to rain upon the land where [there is] no man, the wilderness, where there is not a man in it; so as to feed the untrodden and uninhabited [land],
27 To satisfy a desolate and ruined place, And to cause to shoot up The produce of the tender grass?
and cause it to send forth a crop of green herbs?
28 Does the rain have a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
Who is the rain's father? and who has generated the drops of dew?
29 From whose belly came forth the ice? And the hoarfrost of the heavens, Who has begotten it?
And out of whose womb comes the ice? and who has produced the frost in the sky,
30 Waters are hidden as a stone, And the face of the deep is captured.
which descends like flowing water? who has terrified the face of the ungodly?
31 Do you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Or do you open the cords of Orion?
And dost thou understand the band of Pleias, and hast thou opened the barrier of Orion?
32 Do you bring out the twelve signs in [their] season? And do you comfort the Great Bear over her sons?
Or wilt thou reveal Mazuroth in his season, and the evening star with his rays? Wilt thou guide them?
33 Have you known the statutes of the heavens? Or do you appoint Its dominion in the earth?
And knowest thou the changes of heaven, or the events which take place together under heaven?
34 Do you lift up your voice to the cloud, And abundance of water covers you?
And wilt thou call a cloud with thy voice, and will it obey thee with a violent shower of much rain?
35 Do you send out lightnings, and they go And say to you, Behold us?
And wilt thou send lightnings, and they shall go? and shall they say to thee, What is [thy pleasure]?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the covered part?
And who has given to women skill in weaving, or knowledge of embroidery?
37 Who numbers the clouds by wisdom? And the bottles of the heavens, Who causes to lie down,
And who is he that numbers the clouds in wisdom, and has bowed the heaven [down] to the earth?
38 In the hardening of dust into hardness, And clods cleave together?
For it is spread out as dusty earth, and I have cemented it as one hewn stone to another.
39 Do you hunt prey for a lion? And fulfill the desire of young lions?
And wilt thou hunt a prey for the lions? and satisfy the desires of the serpents?
40 When they bow down in dens—Abide in a thicket for a covert?
For they fear in their lairs, and lying in wait couch in the woods.
41 Who prepares for a raven his provision, When his young ones cry to God? They wander without food.”
And who has prepared food for the raven? for its young ones wander and cry to the Lord, in search of food.
