Job 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:
Job 38: GNBDC
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
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.
Job 38
38
1Then the Lord#Now the Lord enters the debate and addresses two discourses (chaps. 38–39 and 40–41) to Job, speaking of divine wisdom and power. Such things are altogether beyond the capacity of Job. Out of the storm: frequently the background of the appearances of the Lord in the Old Testament; cf. Ps 18; 50; Na 1:3; Hb 3:2–15. answered Job out of the storm and said:
2Who is this who darkens counsel
with words of ignorance?
3Gird up your loins#Gird up your loins: prepare for combat—figuratively, be ready to defend yourself in debate. now, like a man;
I will question you, and you tell me the answers!#Jb 40:2.
4Where were you when I founded the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5Who determined its size? Surely you know?
Who stretched out the measuring line for it?
6Into what were its pedestals sunk,
and who laid its cornerstone,
7While the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God#Sons of God: see note on 1:6. shouted for joy?
8Who shut within doors the sea,
when it burst forth from the womb,#Gn 1:9.
9When I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
10When I set limits for it
and fastened the bar of its door,
11And said: Thus far shall you come but no farther,
and here shall your proud waves stop?
12Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning
and shown the dawn its place
13For taking hold of the ends of the earth,
till the wicked are shaken from it?
14The earth is changed as clay by the seal,
and dyed like a garment;
15But from the wicked their light is withheld,
and the arm of pride is shattered.
16Have you entered into the sources of the sea,
or walked about on the bottom of the deep?
17Have the gates of death been shown to you,
or have you seen the gates of darkness?
18Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Tell me, if you know it all.
19What is the way to the dwelling of light,
and darkness—where is its place?
20That you may take it to its territory
and know the paths to its home?
21You know, because you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!#Ironic, but not a harsh rebuke.
22Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
and seen the storehouses of the hail
23Which I have reserved for times of distress,
for a day of war and battle?#Jos 10:11; Sir 46:5.
24What is the way to the parting of the winds,
where the east wind spreads over the earth?
25Who has laid out a channel for the downpour
and a path for the thunderstorm
26To bring rain to uninhabited land,
the unpeopled wilderness;
27To drench the desolate wasteland
till the desert blooms with verdure?
28Has the rain a father?
Who has begotten the drops of dew?
29Out of whose womb comes the ice,
and who gives the hoarfrost its birth in the skies,
30When the waters lie covered as though with stone
that holds captive the surface of the deep?
31Have you tied cords to the Pleiades,#Pleiades…Orion…Bear: cf. 9:9. Mazzaroth: it is uncertain what astronomical group is meant by this Hebrew word; perhaps a southern constellation.
or loosened the bonds of Orion?
32Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or guide the Bear with her children?
33Do you know the ordinances of the heavens;
can you put into effect their plan on the earth?
34Can you raise your voice to the clouds,
for them to cover you with a deluge of waters?
35Can you send forth the lightnings on their way,
so that they say to you, “Here we are”?
36Who gives wisdom to the ibis,
and gives the rooster#Ibis…rooster: the translation is uncertain. understanding?
37Who counts the clouds with wisdom?
Who tilts the water jars of heaven
38So that the dust of earth is fused into a mass
and its clods stick together?
39Do you hunt the prey for the lion
or appease the hunger of young lions,
40While they crouch in their dens,
or lie in ambush in the thicket?
41Who provides nourishment for the raven
when its young cry out to God,#Ps 147:9.
wandering about without food?
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc