Job, 38

1. Then from the heart of the tempest Yahweh gave Job his answer. He said:

1. Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

2. Who is this, obscuring my intentions with his ignorant words?

2. "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3. Brace yourself like a fighter; I am going to ask the questions, and you are to inform me!

3. Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tell me, since you are so well-informed!

4. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

5. Who decided its dimensions, do you know? Or who stretched the measuring line across it?

5. Who determined its measurements -- surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

6. What supports its pillars at their bases? Who laid its cornerstone

6. On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,

7. to the joyful concert of the morning stars and unanimous acclaim of the sons of God?

7. when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8. Who pent up the sea behind closed doors when it leapt tumultuous from the womb,

8. "Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the womb;

9. when I wrapped it in a robe of mist and made black clouds its swaddling bands;

9. when I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,

10. when I cut out the place I had decreed for it and imposed gates and a bolt?

10. and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,

11. 'Come so far,' I said, 'and no further; here your proud waves must break!'

11. and said, `Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed'?

12. Have you ever in your life given orders to the morning or sent the dawn to its post,

12. "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,

13. to grasp the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it?

13. that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

14. She turns it as red as a clay seal, she tints it as though it were a dress,

14. It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.

15. stealing the light from evil-doers and breaking the arm raised to strike.

15. From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken.

16. Have you been right down to the sources of the sea and walked about at the bottom of the Abyss?

16. "Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17. Have you been shown the gates of Death, have you seen the janitors of the Shadow dark as death?

17. Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

18. Have you an inkling of the extent of the earth? Tell me all about it if you have!

18. Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.

19. Which is the way to the home of the Light, and where does darkness live? -

19. "Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,

20. You could then show them the way to their proper places, you could put them on the path home again!

20. that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?

21. If you do know, you must have been born when they were, you must be very old by now!

21. You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!

22. Have you visited the place where the snow is stored? Have you seen the stores of hail,

22. "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

23. which I keep for times of distress, for days of battle and war?

23. which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?

24. From which direction does the lightning fork, where in the world does the east wind blow itself out?

24. What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

25. Who bores a channel for the downpour or clears the way for the rolling thunder

25. "Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt,

26. so that rain may fall on lands where no one lives, and the deserts void of human dwelling,

26. to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man;

27. to meet the needs of the lonely wastes and make grass sprout on the thirsty ground?

27. to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?

28. Has the rain a father? Who begets the dewdrops?

28. "Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29. What womb brings forth the ice, who gives birth to the frost of heaven,

29. From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?

30. when the waters grow hard as stone and the surface of the deep congeals?

30. The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

31. Can you fasten the harness of the Pleiades, or untie Orion's bands?

31. "Can you bind the chains of the Plei'ades, or loose the cords of Orion?

32. Can you guide the Crown season by season and show the Bear and its cubs which way to go?

32. Can you lead forth the Maz'zaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?

33. Have you grasped the celestial laws? Could you make their writ run on the earth?

33. Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34. Can your voice carry as far as the clouds and make the pent-up waters do your bidding?

34. "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you?

35. Will lightning flashes come at your command and answer, 'Here we are'?

35. Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, `Here we are'?

36. Who endowed the ibis with wisdom and gave the cock his intelligence?

36. Who has put wisdom in the clouds, or given understanding to the mists?

37. Whose skill details every cloud and tilts the water-skins of heaven

37. Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

38. until the dust solidifies and the cracks in the ground close up?

38. when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cleave fast together?

39. Do you go hunting prey for the lioness; do you satisfy the hunger of young lions

39. "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40. where they crouch in their den, waiting eagerly in the bushes?

40. when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert?

41. Who makes provision for the raven when his little ones cry out to God craning their necks in search of food?

41. Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?