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.
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#38:4 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 total darkness its blanket,#38:9 Lit swaddling clothes#2Sm 22:10; Jb 22:13; 37:11
10when I determined its boundaries#38:10 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#38:15 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!#38:21 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?#38:24 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,#38:26 Lit no man 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,#38:30 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#38:32 Or Mazzaroth; Hb obscure in their season
and lead the Bear#38:32 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#38:33 Or God’s authority on earth?
34Can you command#38:34 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#38:36 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?
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