Chapter 38

God Speaks Now to Job

1 Then the Lord aanswered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

2 “Who is this that adarkens counsel

By words without knowledge?

3 “Now agird up your loins like a man,

And bI will ask you, and you instruct Me!

4 “Where were you awhen I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell Me, if you 1have understanding,

5 Who set its ameasurements? Since you know.

Or who stretched the line on it?

6 “On what awere its bases sunk?

Or who laid its cornerstone,

7 When the morning stars sang together

And all the asons of God shouted for joy?

8 “Or who aenclosed the sea with doors

When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;

9 When I made a cloud its garment

And thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 And I 1aplaced boundaries on it

And set a bolt and doors,

11 And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;

And here shall your proud waves stop’?

God’s Mighty Power

12 “Have you 1ever in your life commanded the morning,

And caused the dawn to know its place,

13 That it might take hold of athe ends of the earth,

And bthe wicked be shaken out of it?

14 “It is changed like clay under the seal;

And they stand forth like a garment.

15 “aFrom the wicked their light is withheld,

And the buplifted arm is broken.

16 “Have you entered into athe springs of the sea

Or walked 1in the recesses of the deep?

17 “Have the gates of death been revealed to you,

Or have you seen the gates of adeep darkness?

18 “Have you understood the 1expanse of athe earth?

Tell Me, if you know all this.

19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light?

And darkness, where is its place,

20 That you may take it to aits territory

And that you may discern the paths to its 1home?

21 “You know, for ayou were born then,

And the number of your days is great!

22 “Have you entered the storehouses aof the snow,

Or have you seen the storehouses of the bhail,

23 Which I have reserved for the time of distress,

For the day of war and battle?

24 “Where is the way that athe 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,

26 To bring arain on a land without 1people,

On a desert without a man in it,

27 To asatisfy the waste and desolate land

And to make the 1seeds of grass to sprout?

28 “Has athe rain a father?

Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 “From whose womb has come the aice?

And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

30 “Water 1becomes hard like stone,

And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

31 “Can you bind the chains of the aPleiades,

Or loose the cords of Orion?

32 “Can you lead forth a 1constellation in its season,

And guide the Bear with her 2satellites?

33 “Do you know the aordinances of the heavens,

Or fix their rule over the earth?

34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,

So that an aabundance of water will cover you?

35 “Can you asend forth lightnings that they may go

And say to you, ‘Here we are’?

36 “Who has aput wisdom in the innermost being

Or given bunderstanding to the 1mind?

37 “Who can count the clouds by wisdom,

Or atip the water jars of the heavens,

38 When the dust hardens into a mass

And the clods stick together?

39 “Can you hunt the aprey for the lion,

Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 When they acrouch in their dens

And lie in wait in their lair?

41 “Who prepares for athe raven its nourishment

When its young cry to God

And wander about without food?

Chapter 39

God Speaks of Nature and Its Beings

1 “Do you know the time the 1amountain goats give birth?

Do you observe the calving of the bdeer?

2 “Can you count the months they fulfill,

Or do you know the time they give birth?

3 “They kneel down, they bring forth their young,

They get rid of their labor pains.

4 “Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field;

They leave and do not return to them.

5 “Who sent out the awild donkey free?

And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

6 To whom I gave athe wilderness for a home

And the salt land for his dwelling place?

7 “He scorns the tumult of the city,

The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.

8 “He explores the mountains for his pasture

And searches after every green thing.

9 “Will the awild ox consent to serve you,

Or will he spend the night at your manger?

10 “Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with 1ropes,

Or will he harrow the valleys after you?

11 “Will you trust him because his strength is great

And leave your labor to him?

12 “Will you have faith in him that he will return your 1grain

And gather it from your threshing floor?

13 “The ostriches’ wings flap joyously

With the pinion and plumage of 1love,

14 For she abandons her eggs to the earth

And warms them in the dust,

15 And she forgets that a foot may crush 1them,

Or that a wild beast may trample 1them.

16 “She treats her young acruelly, as if they were not hers;

Though her labor be in vain, she is 1unconcerned;

17 Because God has made her forget wisdom,

And has not given her a share of understanding.

18 “When she lifts herself 1on high,

She laughs at the horse and his rider.

19 “Do you give the horse his might?

Do you clothe his neck with a mane?

20 “Do you make him aleap like the locust?

His majestic bsnorting is terrible.

21 “1He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;

He agoes out to meet the weapons.

22 “He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

And he does not turn back from the sword.

23 “The quiver rattles against him,

The flashing spear and javelin.

24 “With shaking and rage he 1races over the ground,

And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet.

25 “As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’

And he scents the battle from afar,

And the thunder of the captains and the war cry.

26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,

Stretching his wings toward the south?

27 “Is it at your 1command that the eagle mounts up

And makes ahis nest on high?

28 “On the cliff he dwells and lodges,

Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.

29 “From there he aspies out food;

His eyes see it from afar.

30 “His young ones also suck up blood;

And awhere the slain are, there is he.”

Chapter 40

Job: What Can I Say?

1 Then the Lord said to Job,

2 “Will the faultfinder acontend with the Almighty?

Let him who breproves God answer it.”

3 Then Job answered the Lord and said,

4 “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You?

I alay my hand on my mouth.

5 “Once I have spoken, and aI will not answer;

Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”