Job 38

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

2 “Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.

4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.

5 Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?

6 On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,

7 while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,

9 when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,

10 when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,

11 and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?

12 In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,

13 that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?

14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.

15 Light is withheld from the wicked, and their upraised arm is broken.

16 Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea or walked in the trenches of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

18 Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

19 Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides,

20 so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home?

21 Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great!

22 Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,

23 which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle?

24 In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth?

25 Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt,

26 to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,

27 to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass?

28 Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 From whose womb does the ice emerge? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven,

30 when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen?

31 Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?

32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear and her cubs?

33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?

34 Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you?

35 Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?

36 Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind?

37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens

38 when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods of earth stick together?

39 Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions

40 when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket?

41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?

1 ¶ Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

2 Who [is] this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

4 ¶ Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

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 brake forth, [as if] it had issued out of the womb?

9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

10 And brake up for it my decreed [place], and set bars and doors,

11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

12 ¶ Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; [and] caused the dayspring to know his place;

13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?

14 It is turned as clay [to] the seal; and they stand as a garment.

15 And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.

16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.

19 Where [is] the way [where] light dwelleth? and [as for] darkness, where [is] the place thereof,

20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths [to] the house thereof?

21 Knowest thou [it], because thou wast then born? or [because] the number of thy days [is] great?

22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures 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 light parted, [which] scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

25 ¶ Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;

26 To cause it to rain on the earth, [where] no man [is; on] the wilderness, wherein [there is] no man;

27 To satisfy the desolate and waste [ground]; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

30 The waters are hid as [with] a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?

34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we [are]?

36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?

37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,

38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?

39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,

40 When they couch in [their] dens, [and] abide in the covert to lie in wait?

41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

1 And the LORD answered Job out of a weather, and said:

2 Who is he that lacketh wisdom, and speaketh ignorantly?

3 Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, teach me. Where wasst thou when I founded the earth? Tell me, art thou so wise?

5 Knowest thou who hath set the measure for her, or who hath drawn a rule over her?

6 Or whereon stand her feet sunk? Or who hath laid her a corner-stone?

7 When the morning stars praised me together, and all the children of God rejoiced?

8 Who hath shut up the sea with his doors, when it came out as of a mother's womb,

9 When I clothed it with clouds, and wrapped it in darkness, as in swaddling clothes,

10 And when I had broken his course with my dam, and set a bar and a door upon him

11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further; hither shall thy proud waves be laid up?

12 Thou hast commanded the morning in thy time, and hast shewed the dawn her place,

13 To take the corners of the earth, and to shake out the wicked?

14 The seal shall change like glue, and they shall stand as a garment.

15 And the light of the wicked shall be taken away: and the arm of the proud shall be broken.

16 Art thou come into the bottom of the sea, and hast walked in the footsteps of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death ever been opened unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of darkness?

18 Hast thou heard how broad the earth is? Art thou acquainted with all these things?

19 Which is the way where light dwelleth, and which is the place of darkness?

20 That thou mayest take down his border, and know the way to his house?

21 Didst thou know that thou shouldest be born in that day, and how many days thou shouldest have?

22 Hast thou been where the snow cometh from, or hast thou seen where the hail cometh from?

23 Which I have kept until the time of trouble, and until the day of strife and war? 24: By what way is the light divided, and the east wind ariseth upon the earth?

25 Who hath given his course to the downpour, and the way to the thunder and lightning,

26 That it may rain upon the land where there is none, in the wilderness where there is no man,

27 To fill the waste places and the wilderness, and to make the grass grow?

28 Who is the father of the rain? Who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 Whose body did the ice come out of? And who hath begotten the frost under heaven?

30 That the waters may be hid as under stones, and the deep confess above?

31 Canst thou bind together the bands of the seven stars, or dissolve the band of Orion?

32 Canst thou bring forth the morning star in his season, or lead the chariot in the heavens above his children?

33 Thou knowest how to rule the heavens? Or can you master it on earth?

34 Can you bring "your" thunder high in the cloud? Or will the multitude of the water cover thee?

35 Canst thou send forth the lightnings, that they may go and speak? Here we are?

36 Who giveth wisdom in secret? Who gives understanding thoughts?

37 Who is so wise as to tell the clouds? Who can plug the water hoses in the sky,

38 When the dust is sprinkled, that it runs in heaps, and the dumplings stick together?