The Lord Questions Job

38 Then 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?

3  Be strong like a man!

I will ask you questions,

and you must answer me.

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

Tell me, if you understand.

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

Who stretched a ruler across it?

6  What were the earth’s foundations set on,

or who put its cornerstone in place

7  while 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,

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

and wrapped it in dark clouds,

10  when I put limits on the sea

and put its doors and bars in place,

11  when 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

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

and shake evil people out of it?

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

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

15  Light 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?

17  Have the gates of death been opened to you?

Have you seen the gates of the deep darkness?

18  Do you understand how wide the earth is?

Tell me, if you know all these things.

19  “What is the path to light’s home,

and where does darkness live?

20  Can you take them to their places?

Do you know the way to their homes?

21  Surely you know, if you were already born when all this happened!

Have you lived that many years?

22  “Have you ever gone into the storehouse of the snow

or seen the storehouses for hail,

23  which I save for times of trouble,

for days of war and battle?

24  Where is the place from which light comes?

Where is the place from which the east winds blow over the earth?

25  Who cuts a waterway for the heavy rains

and sets a path for the thunderstorm?

26  Who waters the land where no one lives,

the desert that has no one in it?

27  Who sends rain to satisfy the empty land

so the grass begins to grow?

28  Does the rain have a father?

Who is father to the drops of dew?

29  Who is the mother of the ice?

Who gives birth to the frost from the sky

30  when the water becomes hard as stone,

and even the surface of the ocean is frozen?

31  “Can you tie up the stars of the Pleiades

or loosen the ropes of the stars in Orion?

32  Can you bring out the stars on time

or lead out the stars of the Bear with its cubs?

33  Do you know the laws of the sky

and understand their rule over the earth?

34  “Can you shout an order to the clouds

and cover yourself with a flood of water?

35  Can you send lightning bolts on their way?

Do they come to you and say, ‘Here we are’?

36  Who put wisdom inside the mind

or understanding in the heart?

37  Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?

Who can pour water from the jars of the sky

38  when the dust becomes hard

and the clumps of dirt stick together?

39  “Do you hunt food for the female lion

to satisfy the hunger of the young lions

40  while they lie in their dens

or hide in the bushes waiting to attack?

41  Who gives food to the birds

when their young cry out to God

and wander about without food?