Job 38
1 Then Yahweh called to Job out of a fierce storm and said,
Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said:
2 “Who is this who brings darkness to plans by means of words without knowledge?
Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskillful words?
3 Now gird up your loins like a man for I will ask you questions, and you must answer me.
Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer thou me.
4 Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tell me, if you have so much understanding.
Where wast thou when I laid up the foundations of the earth? tell me if thou hast understanding.
5 Who determined its dimensions? Tell me, if you know. Who stretched the measuring line over it?
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its foundations laid? Who laid its cornerstone
Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner stone thereof,
7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?
8 Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst out, as if it had come out of the womb—
Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing out of the womb:
9 when I made clouds its clothing, and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a mist as in swaddling bands?
10 That was when I marked out for the sea my boundary, and when I placed its bars and doors,
I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors:
11 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.'
And I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves.
12 Have you given orders to the morning, or caused the dawn to know its place,
Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place?
13 so that it might take hold of the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it?
14 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.
The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment:
15 From wicked people their 'light' is taken away; their uplifted arm is broken.
From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high arm shall be broken.
16 Have you gone to the sources of the waters of the sea? Have you walked in the lowest parts of the deep?
Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the lowest parts of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors?
18 Have you understood the earth in its expanse? Tell me, if you know it all.
Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things?
19 Where is the way to the resting place of light— as for darkness, where is its place?
Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place of darkness:
20 Can you lead light and darkness to their places of work? Can you find the way back to their houses for them?
That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof.
21 Undoubtedly you know, for you were born then; the number of your days is so large!
Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born? and didst thou know the number of thy days?
22 Have you entered the storehouses for the snow, or have you seen the storehouses for the hail,
Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or has thou beheld the treasures of the hail:
23 these things that I have kept for times of trouble, for days of battle and war?
Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war?
24 What is the path to where the lightning bolts are distributed or to where the winds are scattered from the east over the earth?
By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the earth?
25 Who has created the channels for the floods of rain, or who has made a path for the thunder,
Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy thunder:
26 to cause it to rain on lands where no person exists, and on the wilderness, in which there is no one,
That it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth:
27 to satisfy the devastated and desolate places, and to make the ground sprout with grass?
That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and should bring forth green grass?
28 Does the rain have a father, or, who fathers the drops of dew?
Who is the father of rain? or who begot the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb did the ice come? Who bore the white frost out of the sky?
Out of whose womb came the ice; and the frost from heaven who hath gendered it?
30 The waters hide themselves and become like stone; the surface of the deep becomes frozen.
The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed.
31 Can you fasten chains on the Pleiades, or undo the cords of Orion?
Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus?
32 Can you lead the constellations to appear at their proper times? Can you guide the Bear with its children?
Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make the evening star to rise upon the children of the earth?
33 Do you know the regulations of the sky? Could you set in place the sky's rule over the earth?
Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth?
34 Can you raise your voice up to the clouds, so that an abundance of rainwater may cover you?
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Can you send out bolts of lightning that they may go out, that they say to you, 'Here we are'?
Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return and say to thee: Here we are?
36 Who has put wisdom in the clouds or has given understanding to the mists?
Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock understanding?
37 Who can number the clouds by his skill? Who can pour out the water skins of the sky
Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep?
38 when the dust runs into a hard mass and the clods of earth clump tightly together?
When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods fastened together?
39 Can you hunt down a victim for a lioness or satisfy the appetite of her young lion cubs
Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of her whelps,
40 when they are crouching in their dens and sheltering in hiding to lie in wait?
When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes?
41 Who provides victims for the ravens when their young ones cry out to God and stagger about for lack of food?
Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry to God, wandering about, because they have no meat?
