38:1 From out of a storm, the LORD said to Job: |
38:2 Why do you talk so much when you know so little? |
38:3 Now get ready to face me! Can you answer the questions I ask? |
38:4 How did I lay the foundation for the earth? Were you there? |
38:5 Doubtless you know who decided its length and width. |
38:6 What supports the foundation? Who placed the cornerstone, |
38:7 while morning stars sang, and angels rejoiced? |
38:8 When the ocean was born, I set its boundaries |
38:9 and wrapped it in blankets of thickest fog. |
38:10 Then I built a wall around it, locked the gates, |
38:11 and said, "Your powerful waves stop here! They can go no farther." |
38:12 Did you ever tell the sun to rise? And did it obey? |
38:13 Did it take hold of the earth and shake out the wicked like dust from a rug? |
38:14 Early dawn outlines the hills like stitches on clothing or sketches on clay. |
38:15 But its light is too much for those who are evil, and their power is broken. |
38:16 Job, have you ever walked on the ocean floor? |
38:17 Have you seen the gate to the world of the dead? |
38:18 And how large is the earth? Tell me, if you know! |
38:19 Where is the home of light, and where does darkness live? |
38:20 Can you lead them home? |
38:21 I'm certain you must be able to, since you were already born when I created everything. |
38:22 Have you been to the places where I keep snow and hail, |
38:23 until I use them to punish and conquer nations? |
38:24 From where does lightning leap, or the east wind blow? |
38:25 Who carves out a path for thunderstorms? Who sends torrents of rain |
38:26 on empty deserts where no one lives? |
38:27 Rain that changes barren land to meadows green with grass. |
38:28 Who is the father of the dew and of the rain? |
38:29 Who gives birth to the sleet and the frost |
38:30 that fall in winter, when streams and lakes freeze solid as a rock? |
38:31 Can you arrange stars in groups such as Orion and the Pleiades? |
38:32 Do you control the stars or set in place the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper? |
38:33 Do you know the laws that govern the heavens, and can you make them rule the earth? |
38:34 Can you order the clouds to send a downpour, |
38:35 or will lightning flash at your command? |
38:36 Did you teach birds to know that rain or floods are on their way? |
38:37 Can you count the clouds or pour out their water |
38:38 on the dry, lumpy soil? |
38:39 When lions are hungry, do you help them hunt? |
38:40 Do you send an animal into their den? |
38:41 And when starving young ravens cry out to me for food, do you satisfy their hunger? |