Job 38
1 Then Yahweh responded to Job, out of a storm, and said: —
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
2 Who is it that darkeneth counsel, by words, without knowledge?
“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird, I pray thee—like a strong man—thy loins, that I may ask thee, and inform thou me:
Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
4 Where wast thou, when I founded the earth? Tell, if thou knowest understanding!
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
5 Who set the measurements thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched out over it a line?
Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 Whereon were the pedestals thereof sunk? Or who laid the corner stone thereof; —
On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Or [who] shut in, with double doors, the sea, when, bursting out of the womb, it came forth;
Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
9 When I put a cloud as the garment thereof, and a thick cloud as the swaddling-band thereof;
when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,
10 And brake off for it my boundary, and fixed a bar and double doors;
when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,
11 And said—Hitherto, shalt thou come, and no further, —and, here, shalt thou set a limit to the majesty of thy waves?
and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?
12 Since thy days [began] hast thou commanded the morning? or caused the dawn to know its place;
In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,
13 That it might lay hold of the wings of the earth, and the lawless be shaken out of it?
that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
14 It transformeth itself like the clay of a seal, so that things stand forth like one arrayed;
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
15 That their light may be withdrawn from the lawless, and, the lofty arm, be shivered.
Light is withheld from the wicked, and their upraised arm is broken.
16 Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? Or, through the secret recesses of the resounding deep, hast thou wandered?
Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea or walked in the trenches of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee? And, the gates of the death-shade, couldst thou descry?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18 Hast thou well considered, even the breadths of the earth? Tell—if thou knowest it all!
Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.
19 Where then is the way, the light shall abide? And, the darkness, where then is its place?
Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides,
20 That thou mayest conduct it unto the bound thereof, and that thou mayest perceive the paths to its house.
so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home?
21 Thou knowest, for, then, hadst thou been born! And, in number, thy days are many!
Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great!
22 Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? And, the treasuries of the hail, couldst thou see?
Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,
23 Which I have reserved for a time of distress, for the day of conflict and of war?
which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle?
24 Where then is the way the lightning is parted? The east wind spreadeth itself abroad over the earth.
In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth?
25 Who hath cloven—for the torrent—a channel? Or a way for the lightning of thunders;
Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt,
26 To give rain over the no-man’s land, the desert, where no son of earth is;
to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,
27 To satisfy the wild and the wilderness, to cause to spring forth the meadow of young grass?
to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass?
28 Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb, came forth the ice? And, the hoar-frost of the heavens, who hath given it birth?
From whose womb does the ice emerge? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven,
30 Like a stone, are the waters congealed, and, the face of the roaring deep, becometh firm!
when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 Canst thou bind the fetters of the Pleiades? Or, the bands of Orion, canst thou unloose?
Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?
32 Canst thou bring forth the signs of the Zodiac each in its season? Or, the Bear and her Young, canst thou lead?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear and her cubs?
33 Knowest thou, the statutes of the heavens? Or didst thou appoint his dominion over the earth?
Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?
34 Canst thou lift up, to the thick cloud, thy voice, and the overflow of waters cover thee?
Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you?
35 Canst thou send forth the lightnings, so that they go, and say to thee, Behold us?
Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who hath put—into cloud-forms—wisdom? Or who hath given—to the meteor—understanding?
Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who can count the thin clouds, in wisdom? And, the bottles of the heavens, who can empty out;
Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
38 When the dust is cast into a clod, and the lumps are bound together?
when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods of earth stick together?
39 Wilt thou hunt—for the Lioness—prey? Or, the craving of the Strong Lion, wilt thou satisfy;
Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions
40 When they settle down in dens, abide in covert, for lying in wait?
when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket?
41 Who prepareth for the Raven his nourishment, —when his young ones—unto GOD—cry out, [when] they wander for lack of food?
Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
