| 38:1 |
Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind, |
| 38:2 |
"Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? |
| 38:3 |
Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me! |
| 38:4 |
"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding. |
| 38:5 |
Who determined the measures of it, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it? |
| 38:6 |
Whereupon were the foundations of it fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, |
| 38:7 |
when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? |
| 38:8 |
"Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth from the womb, |
| 38:9 |
when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness, |
| 38:10 |
marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors, |
| 38:11 |
and said, 'Here you may come, but no further. Here shall your proud waves be stayed?' |
| 38:12 |
"Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place; |
| 38:13 |
that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it? |
| 38:14 |
It is changed as clay under the seal, and stands forth as a garment. |
| 38:15 |
From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken. |
| 38:16 |
"Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep? |
| 38:17 |
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? |
| 38:18 |
Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if you know it all. |
| 38:19 |
"What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place, |
| 38:20 |
that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house? |
| 38:21 |
Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great! |
| 38:22 |
Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you seen the treasures of the hail, |
| 38:23 |
which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? |
| 38:24 |
By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth? |
| 38:25 |
Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm; |
| 38:26 |
To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; on the wilderness, in which there is no man; |
| 38:27 |
to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to spring forth? |
| 38:28 |
Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew? |
| 38:29 |
Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it? |
| 38:30 |
The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen. |
| 38:31 |
"Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion? |
| 38:32 |
Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs? |
| 38:33 |
Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish the dominion of it over the earth? |
| 38:34 |
"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you? |
| 38:35 |
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?' |
| 38:36 |
Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind? |
| 38:37 |
Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky, |
| 38:38 |
when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together? |
| 38:39 |
"Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, |
| 38:40 |
when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket? |
| 38:41 |
Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food? |
