Job 38
1 Then Yahweh responded to Job, out of a storm, and said: —
Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
2 Who is it that darkeneth counsel, by words, without knowledge?
“(Who are you to question what I plan to do?/You have no right/authority to question what I plan to do.) [RHQ] You are speaking ignorantly!
3 Gird, I pray thee—like a strong man—thy loins, that I may ask thee, and inform thou me:
I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
4 Where wast thou, when I founded the earth? Tell, if thou knowest understanding!
(“Where were you/Were you there with me) [long ago] when I (laid the foundations of/created) the earth? Since you know so much, tell me [where you were at that time].
5 Who set the measurements thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched out over it a line?
Do you know how I decided how large the earth would be? Do you know who stretched a measuring tape around the earth? Surely [since you think that you know so much, ] you should know that!
6 Whereon were the pedestals thereof sunk? Or who laid the corner stone thereof; —
What supports the pillars on which the earth rests? When the stars [that shine early] in the morning sang together, and someone put in place the stone that causes the earth to stay in its place, and all the angels shouted joyfully [when they saw that happening], who laid that cornerstone? [Did you?]
7 When 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;
“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
9 When I put a cloud as the garment thereof, and a thick cloud as the swaddling-band thereof;
It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
10 And brake off for it my boundary, and fixed a bar and double doors;
I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
11 And said—Hitherto, shalt thou come, and no further, —and, here, shalt thou set a limit to the majesty of thy waves?
[I pointed to the shore] and said to the water, ‘I permit you to come up to here, but I do not permit you to come any farther. Your powerful waves must stop there!’
12 Since thy days [began] hast thou commanded the morning? or caused the dawn to know its place;
“Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
13 That it might lay hold of the wings of the earth, and the lawless be shaken out of it?
Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?
14 It transformeth itself like the clay of a seal, so that things stand forth like one arrayed;
When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
15 That their light may be withdrawn from the lawless, and, the lofty arm, be shivered.
When it becomes daylight, the wicked do not have the darkness [that they like]; [in the daylight] they no longer are able to raise up their arms, ready to hurt people.
16 Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? Or, through the secret recesses of the resounding deep, hast thou wandered?
“[Job, ] have you traveled to the springs [in the bottom of the ocean] from which the water in the seas comes? Have you investigated/explored the very bottom of the oceans?
17 Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee? And, the gates of the death-shade, couldst thou descry?
Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
18 Hast thou well considered, even the breadths of the earth? Tell—if thou knowest it all!
Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
19 Where then is the way, the light shall abide? And, the darkness, where then is its place?
“Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
20 That thou mayest conduct it unto the bound thereof, and that thou mayest perceive the paths to its house.
Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
21 Thou knowest, for, then, hadst thou been born! And, in number, thy days are many!
I am sure that you know these things, because you [talk as though you] were born before the time when all things were created; you [must] be very old!
22 Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? And, the treasuries of the hail, couldst thou see?
“Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
23 Which I have reserved for a time of distress, for the day of conflict and of war?
I store the snow and the hail [in order that I can use them to help my people] when [they have] troubles, in times when [they are fighting] wars [DOU].
24 Where then is the way the lightning is parted? The east wind spreadeth itself abroad over the earth.
And where is the road to the place from which I cause the lightning to flash? Where is the place from where the east wind begins to blow over all the earth?
25 Who hath cloven—for the torrent—a channel? Or a way for the lightning of thunders;
Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
26 To give rain over the no-man’s land, the desert, where no son of earth is;
Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
27 To satisfy the wild and the wilderness, to cause to spring forth the meadow of young grass?
Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
28 Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
29 Out of whose womb, came forth the ice? And, the hoar-frost of the heavens, who hath given it birth?
And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?
30 Like a stone, are the waters congealed, and, the face of the roaring deep, becometh firm!
[In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
31 Canst thou bind the fetters of the Pleiades? Or, the bands of Orion, canst thou unloose?
“[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
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 tell the stars when they should shine? Can you guide [the stars in the groups in the northern sky whose names are] the Big Bear and the Little Bear?
33 Knowest thou, the statutes of the heavens? Or didst thou appoint his dominion over the earth?
Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
34 Canst thou lift up, to the thick cloud, thy voice, and the overflow of waters cover thee?
“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
35 Canst thou send forth the lightnings, so that they go, and say to thee, Behold us?
Can you cause flashes of lightning to come down and strike where you want it to strike? Do those flashes say to you, ‘Where do you want us to strike next?’
36 Who hath put—into cloud-forms—wisdom? Or who hath given—to the meteor—understanding?
Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
37 Who can count the thin clouds, in wisdom? And, the bottles of the heavens, who can empty out;
And who is skilled/wise enough to be able to count the clouds? Who can tilt the jugs of water in the sky [to cause the rain to fall],
38 When the dust is cast into a clod, and the lumps are bound together?
with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
39 Wilt thou hunt—for the Lioness—prey? Or, the craving of the Strong Lion, wilt thou satisfy;
“When a lioness and her cubs crouch in their dens or hide in a thicket, [waiting for some animal to pass by that they can kill, ] can you find animals for a lioness to kill so that [she and] her cubs can [eat the meat and] not be hungry any more?
40 When they settle down in dens, abide in covert, for lying in wait?
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 dead animals for crows, when the baby crows are calling out to me [for food], [when they are so weak] because of their lack of food [that] they (stagger around/can hardly stand up) [in their nests]?”
