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; for I will demand of you, and you shall answer Me. |
38:4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare it, if you have understanding! |
38:5 Who has determined its measurements, if you know? Or who has stretched the line upon it? |
38:6 On what are the foundations fastened to? 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 as it came from the womb? |
38:9 When I made the clouds its robe, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, |
38:10 And prescribed My limit on it, and set bars and doors, |
38:11 And I said, 'You shall come to here, but no further; and here your proud waves shall stop.' |
38:12 Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, |
38:13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth; that the wicked might be shaken out of it? |
38:14 It is changed like clay under a seal; and they stand forth like a garment. |
38:15 But 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 have you walked in search of the depths? |
38:17 Have the gates of death been opened to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? |
38:18 Have you surveyed the breadth of the earth? Declare it, if you know it all! |
38:19 Where is the way where light dwells? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof, |
38:20 That you should take it to its boundary, and that you should know the paths to its home? |
38:21 Do you know it, because you were then born? Or are the number of your days great? |
38:22 Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? Or have you seen the treasures of the hail, |
38:23 Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? |
38:24 By what way is the light distributed, and how does the east wind spread itself upon the earth? |
38:25 Who has cut a channel for the overflowing of waters, or a pathway for the thunderbolts; |
38:26 To cause rain to fall upon the earth where no man is, a wilderness and no man in it; |
38:27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? |
38:28 Has the rain a father? Or who has brought forth the drops of dew? |
38:29 Out of whose womb came the ice? And the frost of the heavens, who engendered it? |
38:30 The waters are hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. |
38:31 Can you bind the bands of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion? |
38:32 Can you bring the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with its sons? |
38:33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set up their dominion on the earth? |
38:34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that floods of waters may cover you? |
38:35 Can you send lightnings, that they may go, and say 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 heavens, |
38:38 When the dust is melted into hardness, and the clods cling fast together? |
38:39 Will you hunt the prey for the lion, or fill the appetite of the young lions, |
38:40 When they crouch in dens, and sit in the cover of their hiding place? |
38:41 Who provides food for the raven, when its young ones cry to God and wander about without food?" |