Job 38

The Lord Speaks

Then the Lord spoke to Job^a out of the storm.^b He said:

“Who is this that obscures my plans^c

with words without knowledge?^d

Prepare to defend yourself;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.^e

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?^f

Tell me, if you understand.^g

Who marked off its dimensions?^h Surely you know!

Who stretched a measuring lineⁱ across it?

On what were its footings set,^j

or who laid its cornerstone^k—

while the morning stars^l sang together^m

and all the angelsⁿ shouted for joy?^o

“Who shut up the sea behind doors^p

when it burst forth from the womb,^q

when I made the clouds its garment

and wrapped it in thick darkness,^r

when I fixed limits for it^s

and set its doors and bars in place,^t

when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;^u

here is where your proud waves halt’?^v

“Have you ever given orders to the morning,^w

or shown the dawn its place,^x

that it might take the earth by the edges

and shake the wicked^y out of it?^z

The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;^a

its features stand out like those of a garment.

The wicked are denied their light,^b

and their upraised arm is broken.^c

“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea

or walked in the recesses of the deep?^d

Have the gates of death^e been shown to you?

Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?^f

Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?^g

Tell me, if you know all this.^h

“What is the way to the abode of light?

And where does darkness reside?ⁱ

Can you take them to their places?

Do you know the paths^j to their dwellings?

Surely you know, for you were already born!^k

You have lived so many years!

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow^l

or seen the storehouses^m of the hail,ⁿ

which I reserve for times of trouble,^o

for days of war and battle?^p

What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,^q

or the place where the east winds^r are scattered over the earth?^s

Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,

and a path for the thunderstorm,^t

to water^u a land where no one lives,

an uninhabited desert,^v

to satisfy a desolate wasteland

and make it sprout with grass?^w

Does the rain have a father?^x

Who fathers the drops of dew?

From whose womb comes the ice?

Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens^y

when the waters become hard as stone,

when the surface of the deep is frozen?^z

“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?

Can you loosen Orion’s belt?^a

Can you bring forth the constellations^b in their seasons

or lead out the Bear with its cubs?^c

Do you know the laws^d of the heavens?^e

Can you set up ^⌈God’s^⌈ dominion over the earth?

“Can you raise your voice to the clouds

and cover yourself with a flood of water?^f

Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?^g

Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?

Who gives the ibis wisdom^{h ⌈}about the flooding of the Nile^⌈,

or gives the rooster understanding^{i ⌈}of when to crow^⌈?

Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?

Who can tip over the water jars^j of the heavens^k

when the dust becomes hard^l

and the clods of earth stick together?^m

“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness

and satisfy the hunger of the lionsⁿ

when they crouch in their dens^o

or lie in wait in a thicket?^p

Who provides food^q for the raven^r

when its young cry out to God

and wander about for lack of food?^s