Job 38:1–18

The Lord Questions Job

38Then the Lord answered Job from the storm. He said:

²“Who is this that makes my purpose unclear

by saying things that are not true?

³Be strong like a man!

I will ask you questions,

and you must answer me.

⁴Where were you when I made the earth’s foundation?

Tell me, if you understand.

⁵Who marked off how big it should be? Surely you know!

Who stretched a ruler across it?

⁶What were the earth’s foundations set on,

or who put its cornerstone in place

⁷while the morning stars sang together

and all the angels shouted with joy?

⁸“Who shut the doors to keep the sea in

when it broke through and was born,

⁹when I made the clouds like a coat for the sea

and wrapped it in dark clouds,

¹⁰when I put limits on the sea

and put its doors and bars in place,

¹¹when I said to the sea, ‘You may come this far, but no farther;

this is where your proud waves must stop’?

¹²“Have you ever ordered the morning to begin,

or shown the dawn where its place was

¹³in order to take hold of the earth by its edges

and shake evil people out of it?

¹⁴At dawn the earth changes like clay being pressed by a seal;

the hills and valleys stand out like folds in a coat.

¹⁵Light is not given to evil people;

their arm is raised to do harm, but it is broken.

¹⁶“Have you ever gone to where the sea begins

or walked in the valleys under the sea?

¹⁷Have the gates of death been opened to you?

Have you seen the gates of the deep darkness?

¹⁸Do you understand how wide the earth is?

Tell me, if you know all these things.