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?
Currently Selected:
Job 38: CEB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Job 38
38
The Lord Speaks
1Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. # 2Kg 2:11; Jb 40:6; Ezk 13:11,13 He said:
2Who is this who obscures My counsel
with ignorant words? # Jb 34:35; 35:16; 42:3
3Get ready to answer Me like a man;
when I question # 2Sm 11:7; Jb 40:7; 42:4 you, you will inform Me.
4Where were you when I established # Ps 89:11; 102:25; 104:5 the earth?
Tell Me, if you have # Lit know understanding.
5Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone
7while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God # Gn 6:2,4; Jb 1:6; 2:1 shouted for joy?
8Who enclosed the sea behind doors
when it burst from the womb,
9when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its blanket, # Lit swaddling clothes # 2Sm 22:10; Jb 22:13; 37:11
10when I determined its boundaries # Lit I broke My statute on it
and put its bars and doors in place,
11when I declared: “You may come this far, but no farther;
your proud waves stop here”?
12Have you ever in your life commanded the morning
or assigned the dawn its place,
13so it may seize the edges of the earth
and shake the wicked out of it?
14The earth is changed as clay is by a seal;
its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
15Light # Lit Their light is withheld from the wicked,
and the arm raised in violence is broken.
16Have you traveled to the sources of the sea
or walked in the depths of the oceans?
17Have the gates # Ps 9:13; 107:18; Is 38:10 of death been revealed to you?
Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18Have you comprehended the extent of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.
19Where is the road to the home of light?
Do you know where darkness lives,
20so you can lead it back to its border?
Are you familiar with the paths to its home?
21Don’t you know? You were already born; # Jb 15:7; Ps 90:2; Pr 8:25
you have lived so long! # Lit born; the number of your days is great
22Have you entered the place where the snow is stored?
Or have you seen the storehouses of hail, # Ex 9:18; Ps 105:32; Is 28:17
23which I hold in reserve for times of trouble,
for the day of warfare and battle? # Jos 10:11; Is 30:30; Rv 16:21
24What road leads to the place where light is dispersed? # Or where lightning is distributed
Where is the source of the east wind that spreads across the earth?
25Who cuts a channel for the flooding rain
or clears the way for lightning,
26to bring rain on an uninhabited land,
on a desert with no human life, # Lit life in it
27to satisfy the parched wasteland
and cause the grass to sprout? # Gn 1:11; 2Sm 23:4; Ps 107:35
28Does the rain have a father?
Who fathered the drops of dew? # Jb 5:10; Ps 147:8; Jr 14:22
29Whose womb did the ice come from?
Who gave birth to the frost of heaven
30when water becomes as hard as stone, # Lit water hides itself as the stone
and the surface of the watery depths is frozen? # Jb 37:10; Ps 147:16-17
31Can you fasten the chains of the Pleiades
or loosen the belt of Orion?
32Can you bring out the constellations # Or Mazzaroth ; Hb obscure in their season
and lead the Bear # Or lead Aldebaran and her cubs? # Jb 9:9; Is 40:26; Am 5:8
33Do you know the laws # Jr 31:35; 33:25 of heaven?
Can you impose its # Or God’s authority on earth?
34Can you command # Lit lift up your voice to the clouds
so that a flood of water covers you? # Jb 22:11; Ps 69:1-2; Lm 3:54
35Can you send out lightning # Ex 19:16; Ps 18:14; 97:4 bolts, and they go?
Do they report to you: “Here we are”?
36Who put wisdom # Jb 28:12,18,20; Ps 51:6; Ec 2:26 in the heart # Or the inner self ; Ps 51:6
or gave the mind understanding?
37Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the water jars of heaven
38when the dust hardens like cast metal
and the clods of dirt stick together?
39Can you hunt prey for a lioness
or satisfy the appetite of young lions # Ps 104:21; 145:15-16
40when they crouch in their dens
and lie in wait within their lairs?
41Who provides the raven’s food # 1Kg 17:4,6; Ps 147:9; Lk 12:24
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.