Job 38
38
The LORD answers from a whirlwind
1Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
2Who is this darkening counsel
with words lacking knowledge?
3Prepare yourself like a man;
I will interrogate you, and you will respond to me.
The establishing of order
4Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?
Tell me if you know.
5Who set its measurements? Surely you know.
Who stretched a measuring tape on it?
6On what were its footings sunk;
who laid its cornerstone,
7while the morning stars sang in unison
and all the divine beings shouted?
8Who enclosed the Sea#38.8 Heb Yam, a sea god behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9when I made the clouds its garment,
the dense clouds its wrap,
10when I imposed#38.10 Heb uncertain my limit for it,
put on a bar and doors
11and said, “You may come this far, no farther;
here your proud waves stop”?
12In your lifetime have you commanded the morning,
informed the dawn of its place
13so it would take hold of earth by its edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14Do you turn it over like clay for a seal,
so it stands out like a colorful garment?
15Light is withheld from the wicked,
the uplifted arm broken.
The vast beyond
16Have you gone to the sea’s sources,
walked in the chamber of the deep?
17Have death’s gates been revealed to you;
can you see the gates of deep darkness?
18Have you surveyed earth’s expanses?
Tell me if you know everything about it.
19Where’s the road to the place where light dwells;
darkness, where’s it located?
20Can you take it to its territory;
do you know the paths to its house?
21You know, for you were born then;
you have lived such a long time!#38.21 Or the number of your days is many
22Have you gone to snow’s storehouses,
seen the storehouses of hail
23that I have reserved for a time of distress,
for a day of battle and war?
24What is the way to the place where light is divided up;
the east wind scattered over earth?
Meteorological facts
25Who cut a channel for the downpours
and a way for blasts of thunder
26to bring water to uninhabited land,
a desert with no human
27to saturate dry wasteland
and make grass sprout?
28Has the rain a father
who brought forth drops of dew?
29From whose belly does ice come;
who gave birth to heaven’s frost?
30Water hardens like stone;
the surface of the deep thickens.
31Can you bind Pleiades’ chains
or loosen the reins of Orion?
32Can you guide the stars
at their proper times,
lead the Bear with her cubs?
33Do you know heaven’s laws,
or can you impose its rule on earth?
34Can you issue an order to the clouds
so their abundant waters cover you?
35Can you send lightning so that it goes
and then says to you, “I’m here”?
36Who put wisdom in remote places,
or who gave understanding to a rooster?#38.36 Heb uncertain
37Who is wise enough to count the clouds,
and who can tilt heaven’s water containers
38so that dust becomes mud
and clods of dirt adhere?
Lion and raven
39Can you hunt prey for the lion
or fill the cravings of lion cubs?
40They lie in their den,
lie in ambush in their lair.
41Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry to God,
move about without food?
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Job 38: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Job 38
38
The Lord Answers Job
1Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
4“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone
7when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings#38.7 Heb sons of God shouted for joy?
8“Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb?—
9when I made the clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10and prescribed bounds for it,
and set bars and doors,
11and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?
12“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
13so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14It is changed like clay under the seal,
and it is dyed#38.14 Cn: Heb and they stand forth like a garment.
15Light is withheld from the wicked,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
16“Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.
19“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
20that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21Surely you know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!
22“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
24What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
25“Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a way for the thunderbolt,
26to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
on the desert, which is empty of human life,
27to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground put forth grass?
28“Has the rain a father,
or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?
30The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.
31“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,
or loose the cords of Orion?
32Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?
34“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of waters may cover you?
35Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,#38.36 Meaning of Heb uncertain
or given understanding to the mind?#38.36 Meaning of Heb uncertain
37Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods cling together?
39“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40when they crouch in their dens,
or lie in wait in their covert?
41Who provides for the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God,
and wander about for lack of food?
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.