38:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:1
38:2 “Who is this2 who darkens counsel3
with words without knowledge?
38:3 Get ready for a difficult task4 like a man;
I will question you
and you will inform me!
God’s questions to Job
38:4 “Where were you
when I laid the foundation5 of the earth?
Tell me,6 if you possess understanding!
38:5 Who set its measurements—if7 you know—
or who stretched a measuring line across it?
38:6 On what8 were its bases9 set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
38:7 when the morning stars10 sang11 in chorus,12
and all the sons of God13 shouted for joy?
38:8 “Who shut up14 the sea with doors
when it burst forth,15 coming out of the womb,
38:9 when I made16 the storm clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band,17
38:10 when I prescribed18 its limits,
and set19 in place its bars and doors,
38:11 when I said, ‘To here you may come20
and no farther,21
here your proud waves will be confined’?22
38:12 Have you ever in your life23 commanded the morning,
or made the dawn know24 its place,
38:13 that it might seize the corners of the earth,25
and shake the wicked out of it?
38:14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;26
its features27 are dyed28 like a garment.
38:15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the raised arm in violence29 is broken.30
38:16 Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea,31
or walked about in the recesses of the deep?
38:17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?32
Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?33
38:18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know it all!
38:19 “In what direction34 does light reside,
and darkness, where is its place,
38:20 that you may take them to their borders
and perceive the pathways to their homes?35
38:21 You know, for you were born before them;36
and the number of your days is great!
38:22 Have you entered the storehouse37 of the snow,
or seen the armory38 of the hail,
38:23 which I reserve for the time of trouble,
for the day of war and battle?39
38:24 In what direction is lightning40 dispersed,
or the east winds scattered over the earth?
38:25 Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains,
and a path for the rumble of thunder,
38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land,41
a desert where there are no human beings,42
38:27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,
and to cause it to sprout with vegetation?43
38:28 Does the rain have a father,
or who has fathered the drops of the dew?
38:29 From whose womb does the ice emerge,
and the frost from the sky,44 who gives birth to it,
38:30 when the waters become hard45 like stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen solid?
38:31 Can you tie the bands46 of the Pleiades,
or release the cords of Orion?
38:32 Can you lead out the constellations47
in their seasons,
or guide the Bear with its cubs?48
38:33 Do you know the laws of the heavens,
or can you set up their rule over the earth?
38:34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds
so that a flood of water covers you?49
38:35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go?
Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?
38:36 Who has put wisdom in the heart,50
or has imparted understanding to the mind?
38:37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds,
and who can tip over51 the water jars of heaven,
38:38 when the dust hardens52 into a mass,
and the clumps of earth stick together?
38:39 “Do you hunt prey for the lioness,
and satisfy the appetite53 of the lions,
38:40 when they crouch in their dens,
when they wait in ambush in the thicket?
38:41 Who prepares prey for the raven,
when its young cry out to God
and wander about54 for lack of food?