Job 38
1 And YHWH answers Job out of the whirlwind and says:
Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said:
2 “Who [is] this—darkening counsel, By words without knowledge?
Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskillful words?
3 Now gird your loins as a man, And I ask you, and you cause Me to know.
Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer thou me.
4 Where were you when I founded the earth? Declare, if you have known understanding.
Where wast thou when I laid up the foundations of the earth? tell me if thou hast understanding.
5 Who placed its measures—if you know? Or who has stretched out a line on it?
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 On what have its sockets been sunk? Or who has cast its cornerstone—
Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner stone thereof,
7 In the singing together of [the] stars of morning, When all [the] sons of God shout for joy?
When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?
8 And He shuts up the sea with doors, In its coming forth, it goes out from the womb.
Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing out of the womb:
9 In My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band,
When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a mist as in swaddling bands?
10 And I measure My statute over it, And place bar and doors,
I set my bounds around it, and made it 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 I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves.
12 Have you commanded morning since your days? Do you cause the dawn to know its place?
Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place?
13 To take hold on the skirts of the earth, And the wicked are shaken out of it,
And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it?
14 It turns itself as clay of a seal And they station themselves as clothed.
The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment:
15 And their light is withheld from the wicked, And the arm lifted up is broken.
From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high arm shall be broken.
16 Have you come to springs of the sea? And in searching the deep Have you walked up and down?
Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the lowest parts 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 opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors?
18 You have understanding, Even to the broad places of earth! Declare—if you have known it all.
Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things?
19 Where [is] this—the way light dwells? And darkness, where [is] this—its place?
Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place of darkness:
20 That you take it to its boundary, And that you understand the paths of its house.
That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof.
21 You have known—for then you are born, And the number of your days [are] many!
Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born? and didst thou know the number of thy days?
22 Have you come to the treasure of snow? Indeed, do you see the treasures of hail,
Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or has thou beheld 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 prepared for the time of the enemy, 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 spread, and heat divided upon the earth?
25 Who has divided a conduit for the flood? And a way for the lightning of the voices?
Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy thunder:
26 To cause [it] to rain on a land [with] no man, A wilderness [with] no man in it.
That it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth:
27 To satisfy a desolate and ruined place, And to cause to shoot up The produce of the tender grass?
That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and should bring forth green grass?
28 Does the rain have a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
Who is the father of rain? or who begot 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 frost from heaven who hath gendered it?
30 Waters are hidden as a stone, And the face of the deep is captured.
The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed.
31 Do you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Or do you open the cords of Orion?
Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus?
32 Do you bring out the twelve signs in [their] season? And do you comfort the Great Bear over her sons?
Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make the evening star to rise upon the children of the earth?
33 Have you known the statutes of the heavens? Or do you appoint Its dominion in the earth?
Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth?
34 Do you lift up your voice to the cloud, And abundance of water covers you?
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Do you send out lightnings, and they go And say to you, Behold us?
Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return 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 hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock understanding?
37 Who numbers the clouds by wisdom? And the bottles of the heavens, Who causes to lie down,
Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep?
38 In the hardening of dust into hardness, And clods cleave together?
When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods fastened together?
39 Do you hunt prey for a lion? And fulfill the desire of young lions?
Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of her whelps,
40 When they bow down in dens—Abide in a thicket for a covert?
When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes?
41 Who prepares for a raven his provision, When his young ones cry to God? They wander without food.”
Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry to God, wandering about, because they have no meat?
