Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,
Then Yahweh responded to Job, out of a storm, and said: —
2 “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Who is it that darkeneth counsel, by words, without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!
Gird, I pray thee—like a strong man—thy loins, that I may ask thee, and inform thou me:
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
Where wast thou, when I founded the earth? Tell, if thou knowest understanding!
5 Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
Who set the measurements thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched out over it a line?
6 What were its foundations fastened on? Or who laid its cornerstone,
Whereon were the pedestals thereof sunk? 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 sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb,
Or [who] shut in, with double doors, the sea, when, bursting out of the womb, it came forth;
9 when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
When I put a cloud as the garment thereof, and a thick cloud as the swaddling-band thereof;
10 marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors,
And brake off for it my boundary, and fixed a bar and double doors;
11 and said, ‘You may come here, but no further. Your proud waves shall be stopped here’?
And said—Hitherto, shalt thou come, and no further, —and, here, shalt thou set a limit to the majesty of thy waves?
12 “Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place,
Since thy days [began] hast thou commanded the morning? or caused the dawn to know its place;
13 that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it?
That it might lay hold of the wings of the earth, and the lawless be shaken out of it?
14 It is changed as clay under the seal, and presented as a garment.
It transformeth itself like the clay of a seal, so that things stand forth like one arrayed;
15 From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
That their light may be withdrawn from the lawless, and, the lofty arm, be shivered.
16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? Or, through the secret recesses of the resounding deep, hast thou wandered?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee? And, the gates of the death-shade, couldst thou descry?
18 Have you comprehended the earth in its width? Declare, if you know it all.
Hast thou well considered, even the breadths of the earth? Tell—if thou knowest it all!
19 “What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,
Where then is the way, the light shall abide? And, the darkness, where then is its place?
20 that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?
That thou mayest conduct it unto the bound thereof, and that thou mayest perceive the paths to its house.
21 Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
Thou knowest, for, then, hadst thou been born! And, in number, thy days are many!
22 Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? And, the treasuries of the hail, couldst thou see?
23 which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
Which I have reserved for a time of distress, for the day of conflict and of war?
24 By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?
Where then is the way the lightning is parted? The east wind spreadeth itself abroad over the earth.
25 Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm,
Who hath cloven—for the torrent—a channel? Or a way for the lightning of thunders;
26 to cause it to rain on a land where there is no man, on the wilderness, in which there is no man,
To give rain over the no-man’s land, the desert, where no son of earth is;
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to grow?
To satisfy the wild and the wilderness, to cause to spring forth the meadow of young grass?
28 Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?
Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29 Whose womb did the ice come out of? Who has given birth to the grey frost of the sky?
Out of whose womb, came forth the ice? And, the hoar-frost of the heavens, who hath given it birth?
30 The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen.
Like a stone, are the waters congealed, and, the face of the roaring deep, becometh firm!
31 “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?
Canst thou bind the fetters of the Pleiades? Or, the bands of Orion, canst thou unloose?
32 Can you lead the constellations out in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
Canst thou bring forth the signs of the Zodiac each in its season? Or, the Bear and her Young, canst thou lead?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
Knowest thou, the statutes of the heavens? Or didst thou appoint his dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you?
Canst thou lift up, to the thick cloud, thy voice, and the overflow of waters cover thee?
35 Can you send out lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
Canst thou send forth the lightnings, so that they go, and say to thee, Behold us?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
Who hath put—into cloud-forms—wisdom? Or who hath given—to the meteor—understanding?
37 Who can count the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the containers of the sky,
Who can count the thin clouds, in wisdom? And, the bottles of the heavens, who can empty out;
38 when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?
When the dust is cast into a clod, and the lumps are bound together?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
Wilt thou hunt—for the Lioness—prey? Or, the craving of the Strong Lion, wilt thou satisfy;
40 when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?
When they settle down in dens, abide in covert, for lying in wait?
41 Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
Who prepareth for the Raven his nourishment, —when his young ones—unto GOD—cry out, [when] they wander for lack of food?
