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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Job 38: GW
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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
1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
2Who is this that darkeneth counsel
By words without knowledge?
3Gird up now thy loins like a man;
For I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me
4Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, if thou hast understanding.
5Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest?
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened?
Or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors,
When it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb;
9When I made the cloud the garment thereof,
And thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,
10And prescribed for it my decree,
And set bars and doors,
11And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;
And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
12Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began,
And caused the dayspring to know its place;
13That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
And the wicked be shaken out of it?
14It is changed as clay under the seal;
And all things stand forth as a garment:
15And from the wicked their light is withholden,
And the high arm is broken.
16Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?
17Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?
Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18Hast thou comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Declare, if thou knowest it all.
19Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
And as for darkness, where is the place thereof;
20That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,
And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?
21 Doubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born,
And the number of thy days is great!
22Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow,
Or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,
23Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
Against the day of battle and war?
24By what way is the light parted,
Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?
25Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood,
Or a way for the lightning of the thunder;
26To cause it to rain on a land where no man is;
On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
27To satisfy the waste and desolate ground;
And to cause the tender grass to spring forth?
28Hath the rain a father?
Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29Out of whose womb came the ice?
And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
30The waters are hidden as with stone,
And the face of the deep is frozen.
31Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
Or loose the bands of Orion?
32Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season?
Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train?
33Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens?
Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?
34Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,
That abundance of waters may cover thee?
35Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go,
And say unto thee, Here we are?
36Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?
Or who hath given understanding to the mind?
37Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,
38When the dust runneth into a mass,
And the clods cleave fast together?
39Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lioness?
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40When they couch in their dens,
And abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41Who provideth for the raven his food, when his young ones cry unto God,
And wander for lack of meat?
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