Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,
And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
2 “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!
Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
Where were you when I put the earth on its base? Say, if you have knowledge.
5 Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
By whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom; or by whom was the line stretched out over it?
6 What were its foundations fastened on? Or who laid its cornerstone,
On what were its pillars based, or who put down its angle-stone,
7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
When the morning stars made songs together, and all the sons of the gods gave cries of joy?
8 “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb,
Or where were you when the sea came to birth, pushing out from its secret place;
9 when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
When I made the cloud its robe, and put thick clouds as bands round it,
10 marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors,
Ordering a fixed limit for it, with locks and doors;
11 and said, ‘You may come here, but no further. Your proud waves shall be stopped here’?
And said, So far you may come, and no farther; and here the pride of your waves will be stopped?
12 “Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place,
Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;
13 that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it?
So that it might take a grip of the skirts of the earth, shaking all the evil-doers out of it?
14 It is changed as clay under the seal, and presented as a garment.
It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
15 From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.
16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?
18 Have you comprehended the earth in its width? Declare, if you know it all.
Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.
19 “What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,
Which is the way to the resting-place of the light, and where is the store-house of the dark;
20 that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?
So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house?
21 Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.
22 Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
Have you come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,
23 which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
Which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and fighting?
24 By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?
Which is the way to the place where the wind is measured out, and the east wind sent out over the earth?
25 Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm,
By whom has the way been cut for the flowing of the rain, and the flaming of the thunder;
26 to cause it to rain on a land where there is no man, on the wilderness, in which there is no man,
Causing rain to come on a land where no man is living, on the waste land which has no people;
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to grow?
To give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass?
28 Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?
Has the rain a father? or who gave birth to the drops of night mist?
29 Whose womb did the ice come out of? Who has given birth to the grey frost of the sky?
Out of whose body came the ice? and who gave birth to the cold mist of heaven?
30 The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen.
The waters are joined together, hard as a stone, and the face of the deep is covered.
31 “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?
Are the bands of the Pleiades fixed by you, or are the cords of Orion made loose?
32 Can you lead the constellations out in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
Do you make Mazzaroth come out in its right time, or are the Bear and its children guided by you?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
Have you knowledge of the laws of the heavens? did you give them rule over the earth?
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you?
Is your voice sent up to the cloud, so that you may be covered by the weight of waters?
35 Can you send out lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
Who has put wisdom in the high clouds, or given knowledge to the lights of the north?
37 Who can count the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the containers of the sky,
By whose wisdom are the clouds numbered, or the water-skins of the heavens turned to the earth,
38 when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?
When the earth becomes hard as metal, and is joined together in masses?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,
40 when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?
When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood?
41 Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
Who gives in the evening the meat he is searching for, when his young ones are crying to God; when the young lions with loud noise go wandering after their food?
