38:1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind and said,
38:2 “Who is this who darkens the divine plan
By words without knowledge?
38:3 Now ①tighten the belt on your waist like a man,
And I shall ask you, and you inform Me!
▷ ①I.e., as if for battle
38:4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you ①have understanding,
▷ ①Lit know understanding
38:5 Who set its measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the measuring line over it?
38:6 On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
38:7 When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
38:8 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When it went out from the womb, bursting forth;
38:9 When I made a cloud its garment,
And thick darkness its swaddling bands,
38:10 And I ①placed boundaries on it
And set a bolt and doors,
▷ ①Lit broke My decree on it
38:11 And I said, ‘As far as this point you shall come, but no farther;
And here your proud waves shall stop’?
38:12 “Have you ①ever in your life commanded the morning,
And made the dawn know its place,
▷ ①Lit from your days commanded
38:13 So that it would take hold of the ends of the earth,
And the wicked would be shaken off from it?
38:14 It is changed like clay under the seal;
And they stand out like a garment.
38:15 Their light is withheld from the wicked,
And the uplifted arm is broken.
38:16 “Have you entered the springs of the sea,
And walked ①in the depth of the ocean?
▷ ①Or in search of the deep
38:17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
And have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
38:18 Have you understood the ①expanse of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.
▷ ①Or width
38:19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
And darkness, where is its place,
38:20 That you would take it to its territory,
And discern the paths to its ①home?
▷ ①Lit house
38:21 You know, for you were born then,
And the number of your days is great!
38:22 Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
And have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
38:23 Which I have reserved for a time of distress,
For a day of war and battle?
38:24 Where is the way that the light is divided,
And the east wind scattered on the earth?
38:25 “Who has split open a channel for the flood,
And a way for the thunderbolt,
38:26 To bring rain on a land without ①people,
On a desert without a person in it,
▷ ①Lit man
38:27 To satisfy the waste and desolate land,
And to make the ①seeds of grass to sprout?
▷ ①Or growth
38:28 Does the rain have a father?
Or who has fathered the drops of dew?
38:29 From whose womb has come the ice?
And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?
38:30 Water ①becomes hard like stone,
And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.
▷ ①Lit hides itself like
38:31 “Can you tie up the chains of the Pleiades,
Or untie the cords of Orion?
38:32 Can you bring out a ①constellation in its season,
And guide the Bear with her ②satellites?
▷ ①Heb Mazzaroth ②Lit sons
38:33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens,
Or do you establish their rule over the earth?
38:34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds,
So that an abundance of water will cover you?
38:35 Can you send flashes of lightning, so that they may go
And say to you, ‘Here we are’?
38:36 Who has put wisdom in the innermost being,
Or given understanding to the ①mind?
▷ ①Or rooster
38:37 Who can count the clouds by wisdom,
And pour out the water jars of the heavens,
38:38 When the dust hardens into a mass
And the clods stick together?
38:39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness,
Or satisfy the appetite of young lions,
38:40 When they crouch in their hiding places,
And lie in wait in their lair?
38:41 Who prepares ①feed for the raven
When its young cry to God,
And wander about without food?
▷ ①Lit its feed