Iyov (Job) 38
38
1Then Adonai answered Iyov out of the storm:
2“Who is this, darkening my plans
with his ignorant words?
3Stand up like a man, and brace yourself;
I will ask questions; and you, give the answers!
4“Where were you when I founded the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
5Do you know who determined its dimensions
or who stretched the measuring line across it?
6On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
7when the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8“Who shut up the sea behind closed doors
when it gushed forth from the womb,
9when I made the clouds its blanket
and dense fog its swaddling cloth,
10when I made the breakers its boundary
set its gates and bars,
11and said, ‘You may come this far, but no farther;
here your proud waves must stop’?
12“Have you ever in your life called up the dawn
and made the morning know its place,
13so that it could take hold of the edges of the earth
and shake the wicked out of it?
14Then the earth is changed like clay under a seal,
until its colors are fixed like those of a garment.
15But from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the arm raised [to strike] is broken.
16“Have you gone down to the springs of the sea
or explored the limits of the deep?
17Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
the gates of death-like darkness?
18Have you surveyed the full extent of the earth?
Say so, if you know it all!
19“Which way leads to where light has its home?
and darkness, where does it dwell?
20If you knew, you could take each to its place
and set it on its homeward path.
21You know, of course, because you were born then;
by now you must be very old!
22“Have you gone into the storehouses for snow
or seen the storehouses for hail,
23which I save for times of trouble,
for days of battle and war?
24“By what path is light dispersed,
or the east wind poured out on the land?
25Who cut a channel for the downpours,
or a way for the lightning and thunder,
26causing it to rain where no one is,
in a desert without anyone there,
27drenching the waste and desolate [ground],
till the tender grass sprouts?
28Does the rain have a father?
Who is the father of dewdrops?
29From whose womb does ice come?
Who gives birth to the frost of heaven,
30when water becomes as hard as stone,
and the surface of the deep freezes solid?
31“Can you tie up the cords of the Pleiades
or loosen the belt of Orion?
32Can you lead out the constellations of the zodiac in their season
or guide the Great Bear and its cubs?
33Do you know the laws of the sky?
Can you determine how they affect the earth?
34“Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and make them cover you with a flood of rain?
35Can you send lightning bolts on their way?
Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36“Who put wisdom in people’s inner parts?
Who gave understanding to the mind?
37Who, by wisdom, can number the clouds?
Who can tilt the water-skins of heaven,
38so that the dust becomes a mass [of mud],
and its clods stick together?
39“Can you hunt prey for a lioness
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40when they crouch in their dens
or lie in ambush in their lairs?
41Who provides food for the raven
when his young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Currently Selected:
Iyov (Job) 38: CJB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
For more information and to purchase a hard copy of the Complete Jewish Bible,
Learn More About Complete Jewish BibleJob 38
38
The LORD Answers Job
1Then out of the storm the LORD spoke to Job.
The LORD
2Who are you to question my wisdom
with your ignorant, empty words?
3Now stand up straight
and answer the questions I ask you.
4Were you there when I made the world?
If you know so much, tell me about it.
5Who decided how large it would be?
Who stretched the measuring line over it?
Do you know all the answers?
6What holds up the pillars that support the earth?
Who laid the cornerstone of the world?
7In the dawn of that day the stars sang together,
and the heavenly beings#38.7 heavenly beings: See 1.6. shouted for joy.
8 #
Jer 5.22
Who closed the gates to hold back the sea#38.8 to hold back the sea: See 26.12.
when it burst from the womb of the earth?
9It was I who covered the sea with clouds
and wrapped it in darkness.
10I marked a boundary for the sea
and kept it behind bolted gates.
11I told it, “So far and no farther!
Here your powerful waves must stop.”
12Job, have you ever in all your life
commanded a day to dawn?
13Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth
and shake the wicked from their hiding places?
14Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out
like the folds of a garment,
clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.
15The light of day is too bright for the wicked
and restrains them from deeds of violence.
16Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea?
Have you walked on the floor of the ocean?
17Has anyone ever shown you the gates
that guard the dark world of the dead?
18Have you any idea how big the world is?
Answer me if you know.
19Do you know where the light comes from
or what the source of darkness is?
20Can you show them how far to go,
or send them back again?
21I am sure you can, because you're so old
and were there when the world was made!
22Have you ever visited the storerooms,
where I keep the snow and the hail?
23I keep them ready for times of trouble,
for days of battle and war.
24Have you been to the place where the sun comes up,
or the place from which the east wind blows?
25Who dug a channel for the pouring rain
and cleared the way for the thunderstorm?
26Who makes rain fall where no one lives?
27Who waters the dry and thirsty land,
so that grass springs up?
28Does either the rain or the dew have a father?
29Who is the mother of the ice and the frost,
30which turn the waters to stone
and freeze the face of the sea?
31 #
Job 9.9; Amos 5.8 Can you tie the Pleiades together
or loosen the bonds that hold Orion?
32Can you guide the stars season by season
and direct the Great and the Little Bear?
33Do you know the laws that govern the skies,
and can you make them apply to the earth?
34Can you shout orders to the clouds
and make them drench you with rain?
35And if you command the lightning to flash,
will it come to you and say, “At your service”?
36Who tells the ibis#38.36 ibis: A bird in ancient Egypt that was believed to announce the flooding of the River Nile. when the Nile will flood,
or who tells the cock that rain will fall?#38.36 Verse 36 in Hebrew is unclear.
37Who is wise enough to count the clouds
and tilt them over to pour out the rain,
38rain that hardens the dust into lumps?
39Do you find food for lions to eat,
and satisfy hungry young lions
40when they hide in their caves,
or lie in wait in their dens?
41Who is it that feeds the ravens
when they wander about hungry,
when their young cry to me for food?
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.