Job 38
38
The Lord Speaks
1Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2“Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels#38:7 Hebrew the sons of God shouted for joy?
8“Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12“Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19“What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31“Can you bind the chains#38:31 Septuagint; Hebrew beauty of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
32Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons#38:32 Or the morning star in its season
or lead out the Bear#38:32 Or out Leo with its cubs?
33Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s#38:33 Or their dominion over the earth?
34“Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36Who gives the ibis wisdom#38:36 That is, wisdom about the flooding of the Nile
or gives the rooster understanding?#38:36 That is, understanding of when to crow; the meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
37Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
39“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Iyoḇ (Job) 38
38
1Then יהוה answered Iyoḇ out of the whirlwind, and said,
2“Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3Now gird up your loins like a man, and I ask you, and you answer Me.
4Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
5Who set its measurements, if you know? Or who stretched the line upon it?
6Upon what were its foundations sunk? Or who laid its corner-stone,
7when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of Elohim shouted for joy?
8Or who enclosed the sea with doors, when it burst forth and came from the womb;
9when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band;
10and assigned for it My law, and set bars and doors;
11and said, ‘This far you have come, but no farther, and here your proud waves stop?’
12Have you ever commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place,
13to take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wrong be shaken out of it?
14It is changed like clay under a seal, and they stand out like a garment.
15And their light is withheld from the wrong, and the arm lifted up is broken.
16Have you come to the sources of the sea? Or have you walked about in the recesses of the deep?
17Were the gates of death revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18Have you understood the breadth of the earth? Declare, if you know it all.
19Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,
20that you should take it to its boundary, and know the paths to its home?
21Do you know? For you would have been born then, and the number of your days been many!
22Have you entered into the storehouses of snow, or have you seen the storehouses of hail,
23which I have kept for the time of distress, for the day of fighting and battle?
24Where is the way that light is divided, or the east wind scattered over the earth?
25Who has cleft a channel for the overflowing water, or a way for the thunderclaps,
26to make rain fall on land where no one is, a wilderness in which there is no man;
27to satisfy the wild and waste places, and to make the seeds of grass to sprout?
28Does the rain have a father? Or who has brought forth the drops of dew?
29From whose belly comes the ice? And who gave birth to the frost of the heavens?
30The waters harden like stone, and the surface of the deep is frozen.
31Do you bind the bands of Kimah, or loosen the cords of Kesil?
32Do you bring out the constellations in its season? Or do you lead the Bear with its sons?
33Do you know the laws of the heavens? Or do you set their rule over the earth?
34Do you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that floods of water cover you?
35Do you send out lightnings, and they go and say to you, ‘Here we are!’?
36Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the heart?
37Who has wisdom to count the clouds, or to tip over the bottles of the heavens,
38when the dust hardens in clumps, and the clods cling together?
39Do you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40when they crouch in dens, sit in the cover of their hiding place?
41Who provides food for the raven, when its young ones cry to Ěl, and wander about without food?
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