Job 38
The LORD Answers Job
[1] Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
[2] “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
[3] Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
[4] “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
[5] Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
[6] On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
[7] when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
[8] “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
[9] when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
[10] and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
[11] and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
[12] “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
[13] that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
[14] It is changed like clay under the seal,
and its features stand out like a garment.
[15] From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
[16] “Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
[17] Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
[18] Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.
[19] “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
[20] that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?
[21] You know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!
[22] “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
[23] which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
[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 has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt,
[26] to bring rain on a land where no man is,
on the desert in which there is no man,
[27] to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground sprout with grass?
[28] “Has the rain a father,
or who has begotten the drops of dew?
[29] From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
[30] The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.
[31] “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loose the cords of Orion?
[32] Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
[33] Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?
[34] “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
that a flood of waters may cover you?
[35] Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
[36] Who has put wisdom in the inward parts
or given understanding to the mind?
[37] Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
[38] when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods stick fast together?
[39] “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
[40] when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in their thicket?
[41] Who provides for the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God for help,
and wander about for lack of food? (ESV)
