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 Gird up now your loins like a man, and I will demand of you, and you declare to Me. |
38:4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare to Me, if you have {and} know understanding. |
38:5 Who determined the measures of the earth, if you know? Or who stretched the measuring line upon it? |
38:6 Upon what were the foundations of it fastened, 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 {and} issued out of the womb?-- |
38:9 When I made the clouds the garment of it, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, |
38:10 And marked for it My appointed boundary and set bars and doors, |
38:11 And said, Thus far shall you come and no farther; and here shall your proud waves be stayed? |
38:12 Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place, |
38:13 So that [light] may get hold of the corners of the earth and shake the wickedness [of night] out of it? |
38:14 It is changed like clay into which a seal is pressed; and things stand out like a many-colored garment. |
38:15 From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken. |
38:16 Have you explored the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep? |
38:17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of deep darkness? |
38:18 Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know it all. |
38:19 Where is the way where light dwells? And as for darkness, where is its abode, |
38:20 That you may conduct it to its home, and may know the paths to its house? |
38:21 You must know, since you were born then! Or because you are so extremely old! |
38:22 Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you seen the treasuries of the hail, |
38:23 Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? |
38:24 By what way is the light distributed, or the east wind spread over the earth? |
38:25 Who has prepared a channel for the torrents of rain, or a path for the thunderbolt, |
38:26 To cause it to rain on the uninhabited land [and] on the desert where no man lives, |
38:27 To satisfy the waste {and} desolate ground and to cause the tender grass to spring forth? |
38:28 Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? |
38:29 Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who has given it birth? |
38:30 The waters are congealed like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. |
38:31 Can you bind the chains of [the cluster of stars called] Pleiades, or loose the cords of [the constellation] Orion? |
38:32 Can you lead forth the signs of the zodiac in their season? Or can you guide [the stars of] the Bear with her young? |
38:33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule upon the earth? |
38:34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an abundance 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 in the dark clouds]? Or who has given understanding to the mind [or to the meteor]? |
38:37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the [water] bottles of the heavens |
38:38 When [heat has caused] the dust to run into a mass and the clods to cleave fast together? |
38:39 Can you [Job] hunt the prey for the lion? Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions |
38:40 When they couch in their dens or lie in wait in their hiding place? |
38:41 Who provides for the raven its prey when its young ones cry to God and wander about for lack of food? |