Job 38

God Speaks Now to Job

1Then the Lord 1answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,2“Who is this that 2darkens counsel By words without knowledge?3Now 3gird up your loins like a man, And 4I will ask you, and you instruct Me!4Where were you 5when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you 6have understanding,5Who set its 7measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?6On what 8were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,7When the morning stars sang together And all the 9sons of God shouted for joy?

8“Or who 10enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;9When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band,10And I 1112placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,11And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’?

God’s Mighty Power

12“Have you 13ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,13That it might take hold of 14the ends of the earth, And 15the wicked be shaken out of it?14It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment.1516From the wicked their light is withheld, And the 17uplifted arm is broken.

16“Have you entered into 18the springs of the sea Or walked 19in the recesses of the deep?17Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of 20deep darkness?18Have you understood the 21expanse of 22the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

19“Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,20That you may take it to 23its territory And that you may discern the paths to its 24home?21You know, for 25you were born then, And the number of your days is great!22Have you entered the storehouses 26of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the 27hail,23Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle?24Where is the way that 28the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth?

25“Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt,26To bring 29rain on a land without 30people, On a desert without a man in it,27To 31satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the 32seeds of grass to sprout?28Has 33the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?29From whose womb has come the 34ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?30Water 35becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

31“Can you bind the chains of the 36Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion?32Can you lead forth a 37constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her 38satellites?33Do you know the 39ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?

34“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an 40abundance of water will cover you?35Can you 41send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’?36Who has 42put wisdom in the innermost being Or given 43understanding to the 44mind?37Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or 45tip the water jars of the heavens,38When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?

39“Can you hunt the 46prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,40When they 47crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair?41Who prepares for 48the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?