< Job 38 >
1 And YHWH answers Job out of the whirlwind and says:
Then Yahweh called to Job out of a fierce storm and said,
2 “Who [is] this—darkening counsel, By words without knowledge?
“Who is this who brings darkness to plans by means of words without knowledge?
3 Now gird your loins as a man, And I ask you, and you cause Me to know.
Now gird up your loins like a man for I will ask you questions, 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 earth's foundations? Tell me, if you have so much understanding.
5 Who placed its measures—if you know? Or who has stretched out a line on it?
Who determined its dimensions? Tell me, if you know. Who stretched the measuring line over it?
6 On what have its sockets been sunk? Or who has cast its cornerstone—
On what were its foundations laid? 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 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.
Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst out, as if it had come out of the womb—
9 In My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band,
when I made clouds its clothing, and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
10 And I measure My statute over it, And place bar and doors,
That was when I marked out for the sea my boundary, and when I placed its 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 when I said to it, 'You may come this far, but no farther; here is where I will put a boundary to the pride of your waves.'
12 Have you commanded morning since your days? Do you cause the dawn to know its place?
Have you given orders to the morning, or caused the dawn to know its place,
13 To take hold on the skirts of the earth, And the wicked are shaken out of it,
so that it might take hold of the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
14 It turns itself as clay of a seal And they station themselves as clothed.
The earth is changed in appearance like clay changes under a seal; all things on it stand out clearly like the folds of a piece of clothing.
15 And their light is withheld from the wicked, And the arm lifted up is broken.
From wicked people their 'light' is taken away; their uplifted arm is broken.
16 Have you come to springs of the sea? And in searching the deep Have you walked up and down?
Have you gone to the sources of the waters of the sea? Have you 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 revealed to you? Have you 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 you understood the earth in its expanse? Tell me, if you know it all.
19 Where [is] this—the way light dwells? And darkness, where [is] this—its place?
Where is the way to the resting place of light— as for darkness, where is its place?
20 That you take it to its boundary, And that you understand the paths of its house.
Can you lead light and darkness to their places of work? Can you find the way back to their houses for them?
21 You have known—for then you are born, And the number of your days [are] many!
Undoubtedly you know, for you were born then; the number of your days is so large!
22 Have you come to the treasure of snow? Indeed, do you see the treasures of hail,
Have you entered the storehouses for the snow, or have you seen the storehouses for the hail,
23 That I have kept back for a time of distress, For a day of conflict and battle?
these things that I have kept for times of trouble, for days of battle and war?
24 Where [is] this, the way light is apportioned? It scatters an east wind over the earth.
What is the path to where the lightning bolts are distributed or to where the winds are scattered from the east over the earth?
25 Who has divided a conduit for the flood? And a way for the lightning of the voices?
Who has created the channels for the floods of rain, or who has made a path for 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 lands where no person exists, and on the wilderness, in which there is no one,
27 To satisfy a desolate and ruined place, And to cause to shoot up The produce of the tender grass?
to satisfy the devastated and desolate places, and to make the ground sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
Does the rain have a father, or, who fathers 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 did the ice come? Who bore the white frost out of the sky?
30 Waters are hidden as a stone, And the face of the deep is captured.
The waters hide themselves and become like stone; the surface of the deep becomes frozen.
31 Do you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Or do you open the cords of Orion?
Can you fasten chains on the Pleiades, or undo the cords of Orion?
32 Do you bring out the twelve signs in [their] season? And do you comfort the Great Bear over her sons?
Can you lead the constellations to appear at their proper times? Can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Have you known the statutes of the heavens? Or do you appoint Its dominion in the earth?
Do you know the regulations of the sky? Could you set in place the sky's rule over the earth?
34 Do you lift up your voice to the cloud, And abundance of water covers you?
Can you raise your voice up to the clouds, so that an abundance of rainwater may cover you?
35 Do you send out lightnings, and they go And say to you, Behold us?
Can you send out bolts of lightning that they may go out, that they say to you, '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 clouds or has given understanding to the mists?
37 Who numbers the clouds by wisdom? And the bottles of the heavens, Who causes to lie down,
Who can number the clouds by his skill? Who can pour out the water skins of the sky
38 In the hardening of dust into hardness, And clods cleave together?
when the dust runs into a hard mass and the clods of earth clump tightly together?
39 Do you hunt prey for a lion? And fulfill the desire of young lions?
Can you hunt down a victim for a lioness or satisfy the appetite of her young lion cubs
40 When they bow down in dens—Abide in a thicket for a covert?
when they are crouching in their dens and sheltering in hiding 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 victims for the ravens when their young ones cry out to God and stagger about for lack of food?