Job 38:1–18

The Lord Challenges Job

Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

²“Who is this that questions my wisdom

with such ignorant words?

³Brace yourself like a man,

because I have some questions for you,

and you must answer them.

⁴“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell me, if you know so much.

⁵Who determined its dimensions

and stretched out the surveying line?

⁶What supports its foundations,

and who laid its cornerstone

⁷as the morning stars sang together

and all the angels shouted for joy?

⁸“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries

as it burst from the womb,

⁹and as I clothed it with clouds

and wrapped it in thick darkness?

¹⁰For I locked it behind barred gates,

limiting its shores.

¹¹I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.

Here your proud waves must stop!’

¹²“Have you ever commanded the morning to appear

and caused the dawn to rise in the east?

¹³Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,

to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?

¹⁴As the light approaches,

the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;

it is robed in brilliant colors.

¹⁵The light disturbs the wicked

and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

¹⁶“Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?

Have you explored their depths?

¹⁷Do you know where the gates of death are located?

Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?

¹⁸Do you realize the extent of the earth?

Tell me about it if you know!