Job 38
1 And YHWH answers Job out of the whirlwind and says:
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,
2 “Who [is] this—darkening counsel, By words without knowledge?
“Who is this who questions my wisdom by talking so ignorantly?
3 Now gird your loins as a man, And I ask you, and you cause Me to know.
Prepare yourself, be strong, for I am going to question you, and you must answer me.
4 Where were you when I founded the earth? Declare, if you have known understanding.
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have such knowledge!
5 Who placed its measures—if you know? Or who has stretched out a line on it?
Who decided its dimensions? Don't you know? Who stretched out a measuring line?
6 On what have its sockets been sunk? Or who has cast its cornerstone—
What do its foundations rest upon? Who laid its cornerstone,
7 In the singing together of [the] stars of morning, When all [the] sons of God shout for joy?
when the stars of the morning sang together and all the angels shouted for joy.
8 And He shuts up the sea with doors, In its coming forth, it goes out from the womb.
Who laid down the boundaries of the sea when it was born?
9 In My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band,
Who clothed it with clouds, and wrapped it in a blanket of deep darkness?
10 And I measure My statute over it, And place bar and doors,
I set its limits, marking its borders.
11 And say, To here you come, and no more, And a command is placed On the pride of your billows.
I said, ‘You may come here, but no farther. Here is where your proud waves stop.’
12 Have you commanded morning since your days? Do you cause the dawn to know its place?
During your lifetime, have you ever ordered the morning to begin?
13 To take hold on the skirts of the earth, And the wicked are shaken out of it,
Have you ever told the dawn where to appear that it might take hold of the corners of the earth and shake the wicked out?
14 It turns itself as clay of a seal And they station themselves as clothed.
The earth is changed like clay under a seal; its features stand out like a crumpled garment.
15 And their light is withheld from the wicked, And the arm lifted up is broken.
The ‘light’ of the wicked is taken away from them; their acts of violence are stopped.
16 Have you come to springs of the sea? And in searching the deep Have you walked up and down?
Have you entered the sources of the sea? Have you explored their hidden depths?
17 Were the gates of death revealed to you? And do you see the gates of death-shade?
Have you been shown where the gates of death are? Have you seen the gates of utter darkness?
18 You have understanding, Even to the broad places of earth! Declare—if you have known it all.
Do you know how far the earth extends? Tell me if you know all this!
19 Where [is] this—the way light dwells? And darkness, where [is] this—its place?
In which direction does light live? Where does darkness dwell?
20 That you take it to its boundary, And that you understand the paths of its house.
Can you take them home? Do you know the way to where they live?
21 You have known—for then you are born, And the number of your days [are] many!
Of course you know, because you were already born then! You've lived so long!
22 Have you come to the treasure of snow? Indeed, do you see the treasures of hail,
Have you been to where the snow is kept? Have you seen where the hail is held?
23 That I have kept back for a time of distress, For a day of conflict and battle?
I have stored them up for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle.
24 Where [is] this, the way light is apportioned? It scatters an east wind over the earth.
Do you know the way to where light comes from, or to where the east wind blows over the earth?
25 Who has divided a conduit for the flood? And a way for the lightning of the voices?
Who cuts a channel for the rain to flow? Who creates a path for the thunderbolt?
26 To cause [it] to rain on a land [with] no man, A wilderness [with] no man in it.
Who brings rain to an uninhabited land, to a desert where nobody lives,
27 To satisfy a desolate and ruined place, And to cause to shoot up The produce of the tender grass?
to water a parched wasteland to make the green grass grow?
28 Does the rain have a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
Does the rain have a father? Who was the father of the dewdrops?
29 From whose belly came forth the ice? And the hoarfrost of the heavens, Who has begotten it?
Who was the mother of ice? Does the frost of the air have a mother?
30 Waters are hidden as a stone, And the face of the deep is captured.
Water turns into rock-hard ice; its surface freezes solid.
31 Do you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Or do you open the cords of Orion?
Can you tie together the stars of the Pleiades? Can you loosen the belt of the Orion constellation?
32 Do you bring out the twelve signs in [their] season? And do you comfort the Great Bear over her sons?
Can you guide the stars of Mazzaroth at the right time? Can you direct the Great Bear constellation and its other stars?
33 Have you known the statutes of the heavens? Or do you appoint Its dominion in the earth?
Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you apply them to the earth?
34 Do you lift up your voice to the cloud, And abundance of water covers you?
Can you shout to the clouds and command them to pour rain down on you?
35 Do you send out lightnings, and they go And say to you, Behold us?
Can you send out bolts of lightning and direct them, so that they can answer you saying, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the covered part?
Who has placed wisdom inside people? 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 is clever enough to count the clouds? Who can turn heaven's water jars on their sides
38 In the hardening of dust into hardness, And clods cleave together?
when the dust has baked into a solid mass?
39 Do you hunt prey for a lion? And fulfill the desire of young lions?
Can you hunt prey for the lion? Can you feed the lion cubs
40 When they bow down in dens—Abide in a thicket for a covert?
as they crouch down in their dens and lie in wait in the bushes?
41 Who prepares for a raven his provision, When his young ones cry to God? They wander without food.”
Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God, weak from starvation?
