Job 38
1 Then Yahweh responded to Job, out of a storm, and said: —
And YHWH answers Job out of the whirlwind and says:
2 Who is it that darkeneth counsel, by words, without knowledge?
“Who [is] this—darkening 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 gird your loins as a man, And I ask you, and you cause Me to know.
4 Where wast thou, when I founded the earth? Tell, if thou knowest understanding!
Where were you when I founded the earth? Declare, if you have known understanding.
5 Who set the measurements thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched out over it a line?
Who placed its measures—if you know? Or who has stretched out a line on it?
6 Whereon were the pedestals thereof sunk? Or who laid the corner stone thereof; —
On what have its sockets been sunk? Or who has cast its cornerstone—
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
In the singing together of [the] stars of morning, When all [the] sons of God shout for joy?
8 Or [who] shut in, with double doors, the sea, when, bursting out of the womb, it came forth;
And He shuts up the sea with doors, In its coming forth, it goes out from the womb.
9 When I put a cloud as the garment thereof, and a thick cloud as the swaddling-band thereof;
In My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 And brake off for it my boundary, and fixed a bar and double doors;
And I measure My statute over it, And place bar 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 say, To here you come, and no more, And a command is placed On the pride of your billows.
12 Since thy days [began] hast thou commanded the morning? or caused the dawn to know its place;
Have you commanded morning since your days? Do you cause the dawn to know its place?
13 That it might lay hold of the wings of the earth, and the lawless be shaken out of it?
To take hold on the skirts of the earth, And the wicked are shaken out of it,
14 It transformeth itself like the clay of a seal, so that things stand forth like one arrayed;
It turns itself as clay of a seal And they station themselves as clothed.
15 That their light may be withdrawn from the lawless, and, the lofty arm, be shivered.
And their light is withheld from the wicked, And the arm lifted up 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 come to springs of the sea? And in searching the deep Have you walked up and down?
17 Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee? And, the gates of the death-shade, couldst thou descry?
Were the gates of death revealed to you? And do you see the gates of death-shade?
18 Hast thou well considered, even the breadths of the earth? Tell—if thou knowest it all!
You have understanding, Even to the broad places of earth! Declare—if you have known it all.
19 Where then is the way, the light shall abide? And, the darkness, where then is its place?
Where [is] this—the way light dwells? And darkness, where [is] this—its place?
20 That thou mayest conduct it unto the bound thereof, and that thou mayest perceive the paths to its house.
That you take it to its boundary, And that you understand the paths of its house.
21 Thou knowest, for, then, hadst thou been born! And, in number, thy days are many!
You have known—for then you are born, And the number of your days [are] many!
22 Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? And, the treasuries of the hail, couldst thou see?
Have you come to the treasure of snow? Indeed, do you see the treasures of hail,
23 Which I have reserved for a time of distress, for the day of conflict and of war?
That I have kept back for a time of distress, For a day of conflict and battle?
24 Where then is the way the lightning is parted? The east wind spreadeth itself abroad over the earth.
Where [is] this, the way light is apportioned? It scatters an east wind over the earth.
25 Who hath cloven—for the torrent—a channel? Or a way for the lightning of thunders;
Who has divided a conduit for the flood? And a way for the lightning of the voices?
26 To give rain over the no-man’s land, the desert, where no son of earth is;
To cause [it] to rain on a land [with] no man, A wilderness [with] no man in it.
27 To satisfy the wild and the wilderness, to cause to spring forth the meadow of young grass?
To satisfy a desolate and ruined place, And to cause to shoot up The produce of the tender grass?
28 Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
Does the rain have a father? Or 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 belly came forth the ice? And the hoarfrost of the heavens, Who has begotten it?
30 Like a stone, are the waters congealed, and, the face of the roaring deep, becometh firm!
Waters are hidden as a stone, And the face of the deep is captured.
31 Canst thou bind the fetters of the Pleiades? Or, the bands of Orion, canst thou unloose?
Do you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Or do you open the cords 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?
Do you bring out the twelve signs in [their] season? And do you comfort the Great Bear over her sons?
33 Knowest thou, the statutes of the heavens? Or didst thou appoint his dominion over the earth?
Have you known the statutes of the heavens? Or do you appoint Its dominion in the earth?
34 Canst thou lift up, to the thick cloud, thy voice, and the overflow of waters cover thee?
Do you lift up your voice to the cloud, And abundance of water covers you?
35 Canst thou send forth the lightnings, so that they go, and say to thee, Behold us?
Do you send out lightnings, and they go And say to you, Behold us?
36 Who hath put—into cloud-forms—wisdom? Or who hath given—to the meteor—understanding?
Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the covered part?
37 Who can count the thin clouds, in wisdom? And, the bottles of the heavens, who can empty out;
Who numbers the clouds by wisdom? And the bottles of the heavens, Who causes to lie down,
38 When the dust is cast into a clod, and the lumps are bound together?
In the hardening of dust into hardness, And clods cleave together?
39 Wilt thou hunt—for the Lioness—prey? Or, the craving of the Strong Lion, wilt thou satisfy;
Do you hunt prey for a lion? And fulfill the desire of young lions?
40 When they settle down in dens, abide in covert, for lying in wait?
When they bow down in dens—Abide in a thicket for a covert?
41 Who prepareth for the Raven his nourishment, —when his young ones—unto GOD—cry out, [when] they wander for lack of food?
Who prepares for a raven his provision, When his young ones cry to God? They wander without food.”
