Job 38
38
God Confronts Job
Have You Gotten to the Bottom of Things?
1-11And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said:
“Why do you confuse the issue?
Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about?
Pull yourself together, Job!
Up on your feet! Stand tall!
I have some questions for you,
and I want some straight answers.
Where were you when I created the earth?
Tell me, since you know so much!
Who decided on its size? Certainly you’ll know that!
Who came up with the blueprints and measurements?
How was its foundation poured,
and who set the cornerstone,
While the morning stars sang in chorus
and all the angels shouted praise?
And who took charge of the ocean
when it gushed forth like a baby from the womb?
That was me! I wrapped it in soft clouds,
and tucked it in safely at night.
Then I made a playpen for it,
a strong playpen so it couldn’t run loose,
And said, ‘Stay here, this is your place.
Your wild tantrums are confined to this place.’
12-15“And have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up!’
told Dawn, ‘Get to work!’
So you could seize Earth like a blanket
and shake out the wicked like cockroaches?
As the sun brings everything to light,
brings out all the colors and shapes,
The cover of darkness is snatched from the wicked—
they’re caught in the very act!
16-18“Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things,
explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean?
Do you know the first thing about death?
Do you have one clue regarding death’s dark mysteries?
And do you have any idea how large this earth is?
Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer.
19-21“Do you know where Light comes from
and where Darkness lives
So you can take them by the hand
and lead them home when they get lost?
Why, of course you know that.
You’ve known them all your life,
grown up in the same neighborhood with them!
22-30“Have you ever traveled to where snow is made,
seen the vault where hail is stockpiled,
The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness
for times of trouble and battle and war?
Can you find your way to where lightning is launched,
or to the place from which the wind blows?
Who do you suppose carves canyons
for the downpours of rain, and charts
the route of thunderstorms
That bring water to unvisited fields,
deserts no one ever lays eyes on,
Drenching the useless wastelands
so they’re carpeted with wildflowers and grass?
And who do you think is the father of rain and dew,
the mother of ice and frost?
You don’t for a minute imagine
these marvels of weather just happen, do you?
31-33“Can you catch the eye of the beautiful Pleiades sisters,
or distract Orion from his hunt?
Can you get Venus to look your way,
or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out and play?
Do you know the first thing about the sky’s constellations
and how they affect things on Earth?
34-35“Can you get the attention of the clouds,
and commission a shower of rain?
Can you take charge of the lightning bolts
and have them report to you for orders?
What Do You Have to Say for Yourself?
36-38“Who do you think gave weather-wisdom to the ibis,
and storm-savvy to the rooster?
Does anyone know enough to number all the clouds
or tip over the rain barrels of heaven
When the earth is cracked and dry,
the ground baked hard as a brick?
39-41“Can you teach the lioness to stalk her prey
and satisfy the appetite of her cubs
As they crouch in their den,
waiting hungrily in their cave?
And who sets out food for the ravens
when their young cry to God,
fluttering about because they have no food?”
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Job 38: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
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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