38:1  Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

38:2  "Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?

38:3  "Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

38:4  "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell {Me,} if you have understanding,

38:5  Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?

38:6  "On what were its bases sunk? 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} enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;

38:9  When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band,

38:10  And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,

38:11  And I said, `Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop'?

38:12  "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, {And} caused the dawn to know its place,

38:13  That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?

38:14  "It is changed like clay {under} the seal; And they stand forth like a garment.

38:15  "From the wicked their light is withheld, And the uplifted arm is broken.

38:16  "Have you entered into the springs of the sea Or 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 deep darkness?

38:18  "Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell {Me,} if you know all this.

38:19  "Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,

38:20  That you may take it to its territory And that you may discern the paths to its home?

38:21  "You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!

38:22  "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

38:23  Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle?

38:24  "Where is the way that the light is divided, {Or} the east wind scattered on the earth?

38:25  "Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt,

38:26  To bring rain on a land without people, {On} a desert without a man in it,

38:27  To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

38:28  "Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

38:29  "From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

38:30  "Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

38:31  "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion?

38:32  "Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?

38:33  "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?

38:34  "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you?

38:35  "Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, `Here we are'?

38:36  "Who has put wisdom in the innermost being Or given understanding to the mind?

38:37  "Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or tip the water jars of the heavens,

38:38  When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?

38:39  "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

38:40  When they crouch in {their} dens {And} lie in wait in {their} lair?

38:41  "Who prepares for the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?