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