Job 38:4-41

4Where were you 1when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you 2have understanding,5Who set its 3measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?6On what 4were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,7When the morning stars sang together And all the 5sons of God shouted for joy?

8“Or who 6enclosed 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 78placed 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’?

12“Have you 9ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,13That it might take hold of 10the ends of the earth, And 11the wicked be shaken out of it?14It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment.1512From the wicked their light is withheld, And the 13uplifted arm is broken.

16“Have you entered into 14the springs of the sea Or walked 15in the recesses of the deep?17Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of 16deep darkness?18Have you understood the 17expanse of 18the 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 19its territory And that you may discern the paths to its 20home?21You know, for 21you were born then, And the number of your days is great!22Have you entered the storehouses 22of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the 23hail,23Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle?24Where is the way that 24the 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 25rain on a land without 26people, On a desert without a man in it,27To 27satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the 28seeds of grass to sprout?28Has 29the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?29From whose womb has come the 30ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?30Water 31becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

31“Can you bind the chains of the 32Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion?32Can you lead forth a 33constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her 34satellites?33Do you know the 35ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?

34“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an 36abundance of water will cover you?35Can you 37send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’?36Who has 38put wisdom in the innermost being Or given 39understanding to the 40mind?37Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or 41tip the water jars of the heavens,38When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?

39“Can you hunt the 42prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,40When they 43crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair?41Who prepares for 44the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?