Job 38
38
The Lord Speaks
From Out of a Storm
1From out of a storm,
the Lord said to Job:
2Why do you talk so much
when you know so little?
3Now get ready to face me!
Can you answer
the questions I ask?
4How did I lay the foundation
for the earth?
Were you there?
5Doubtless you know who decided
its length and width.
6What supports the foundation?
Who placed the cornerstone,
7 #
Ba 3.34. while morning stars sang,
and angels rejoiced?
8 #
Jr 5.22. When the ocean was born,
I set its boundaries
9and wrapped it in blankets
of thickest fog.
10Then I built a wall around it,
locked the gates, 11and said,
“Your powerful waves stop here!
They can go no farther.”
Did You Ever Tell the Sun To Rise?
12Did you ever tell the sun to rise?
And did it obey?
13Did it take hold of the earth
and shake out the wicked
like dust from a rug?
14Early dawn outlines the hills
like stitches on clothing
or sketches on clay.
15But its light is too much
for those who are evil,
and their power is broken.
16Job, have you ever walked
on the ocean floor?
17Have you seen the gate
to the world of the dead?
18And how large is the earth?
Tell me, if you know!
19Where is the home of light,
and where does darkness live?
20Can you lead them home?
21I'm certain you must be able to,
since you were already born
when I created everything.
22Have you been to the places
where I keep snow and hail,
23until I use them to punish
and conquer nations?
24From where does lightning leap,
or the east wind blow?
25Who carves out a path
for thunderstorms?
Who sends torrents of rain
26on empty deserts
where no one lives?
27Rain that changes barren land
to meadows green with grass.
28Who is the father of the dew
and of the rain?
29Who gives birth to the sleet
and the frost
30that fall in winter,
when streams and lakes
freeze solid as a rock?
Can You Arrange Stars?
31 #
Job 9.9; Am 5.8. Can you arrange stars in groups
such as Orion
and the Pleiades?
32Do you control the stars
or set in place the Big Dipper
and the Little Dipper?
33Do you know the laws
that govern the heavens,
and can you make them rule
the earth?
34Can you order the clouds
to send a downpour,
35or will lightning flash
at your command?
36Did you teach birds to know
that rain or floods
are on their way?#38.36 way: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 36.
37Can you count the clouds
or pour out their water
38on the dry, lumpy soil?
39When lions are hungry,
do you help them hunt?
40Do you send an animal
into their den?
41And when starving young ravens
cry out to me for food,
do you satisfy their hunger?
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Job 38: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Job 38
38
The LORD Speaks: Who Is Able to Challenge Me?
1Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm.
2“Who is this that belittles my advice
with words that do not show any knowledge ⌞about it⌟?
3Brace yourself like a man!
I will ask you, and you will teach me.
The LORD Speaks about Creation
4“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me if you have ⌞such⌟ insight.
5Who determined its dimensions?
Certainly, you know!
Who stretched a measuring line over it?
6On what were its footings sunk?
Who laid its cornerstone
7when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8“Who shut the sea behind gates
when it burst through and came out of the womb,
9when I clothed it with clouds
and wrapped it up in dark clouds,
10when I set a limit for it
and put up bars and gates,
11when I said, ‘You may come this far but no farther.
Here your proud waves will stop’?
12“Have you ever given orders to the morning
or assigned a place for the dawn
13so that it could grab the earth by its edges
and shake wicked people out of it?
14The earth changes like clay stamped by a seal,
and ⌞parts of it⌟ stand out like ⌞folds in⌟ clothing.
15Wicked people are deprived of their light,
and an arm raised ⌞in victory⌟ is broken.
16Have you gone to the springs in the sea
or walked through the valleys of the ocean depths?
17Have the gateways to death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gateways to total darkness?
18Have you ⌞even⌟ considered how wide the earth is?
Tell me, if you know all of this!
19“What is the way to the place where light lives?
Where is the home of darkness
20so that you may lead it to its territory,
so that you may know the path to its home?
21You must know because you were born then
and have lived such a long time!
22Have you been to the warehouses where snow is stored
or seen the warehouses for hail
23that I have stored up for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
24Which is the way to the place where light is scattered
and the east wind is spread across the earth?
25“Who made a channel for the flooding rains
and a path for the thunderstorms
26to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
on a desert where there are no humans,
27to saturate the desolate wasteland
in order to make it sprout with grass?
28Does the rain have a father?
Who gave birth to the dewdrops?
29From whose womb came the ice,
and who has given birth to the frost in the air?
30The water hardens like a stone,
and the surface of the ocean freezes over.
31“Can you connect the chains of the ⌞constellation⌟ Pleiades
or untie the ropes of Orion?
32Can you bring out the constellations at the right time
or guide Ursa Major with its cubs?
33Do you know the laws of the sky
or make them rule the earth?
34Can you call to the clouds
and have a flood of water cover you?
35Can you send lightning flashes so that they may go and say to you,
‘Here we are’?
36Who put wisdom in the heart
or gave understanding to the mind?
37Who is wise enough to count the clouds
or pour out the water jars of heaven
38when the dirt hardens into clumps
and the soil clings together?
The Lioness
39“Can you hunt prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of her cubs
40as they crouch in their dens
and lie ready to ambush from their lairs?
The Crow
41“Who provides food for the crow
when its young ones cry to God
and wander around in need of food?
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.