Job 38
1AFTER Elius had finished his speech, the Lord from a whirlwind and clouds, said to Job:
2Who is this who is concealing counsel from Me, and who hiding words in his heart thinketh to hide them from Me?
3Gird up thy loins like a man and I will question thee, and answer thou Me.
4Where wast thou, when I laid the foundations of the earth? And tell Me, if thou hast understanding,
5who settled the measures of it? Dost thou know? Or who stretched the line upon it?
6To what are the hooks of it fastened? And who laid the corner-stone thereof?
7When the stars were made, all my angels praised Me with a loud voice.
8It was I who shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed eagerly from its mother’s womb.
9It was I who made a cloud its clothing; and thick darkness its swaddling bands.
10It was I who set bounds to it; surrounded it with bars and gates;
11and said to it, Thus far thou shalt come and no farther: but in thyself thy waves shall be spent.
12Was it in concert with thee that I ordered the morning light; and that the day spring knew its appointed time
13to tinge the wings of the earth—to scare the wicked from it?
14Didst thou take clay of the earth and form an animal and place on the earth a creature endowed with speech?
15Hast thou withdrawn the light from the wicked, and broken in pieces the arms of the haughty?
16Hast thou gone to the head spring of the sea; and walked in the footsteps of the abyss?
17Are the gates of Hades opened to thee in fear, and are the porters of Hades struck with awe at seeing thee?
18Hast thou informed thyself of the breadth of that which is under heaven? Tell Me, then, what is the extent of it.
19In what country doth light make its abode, and of what sort is the place of darkness?
20If thou wouldst lead Me to their borders, and if thou knewest their paths,
21I would know that thou wast then born, and that the number of thy years is great.
22Hast thou gone to the treasuries of snow, or hast thou seen the treasuries of hail?
23Are they stored up for thee, for a time of enemies—for a day of battles and combat?
24From what place doth hoarfrost issue, or whence is the south wind scattered over the earth?
25Who hath prepared a course for the tempest,
26and a way for impetuous storms to water the ground, where there is not a man—the desert where no man dwelleth—to saturate an untrodden, uninhabited land
27and cause the bud of the tender herb to spring?
28Who is the father of rain, and who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29From Whose womb doth ice proceed, and Who in the sky hath brought forth hail
30which descendeth like a shower? Who hath struck with terror the face of the wicked?
31Dost thou know the band of the Pleiades, or hast thou opened the barrier of Orion?
32Canst thou cause [the constellation] Mazouroth to come forth in his season, or drag out Hesperus* by his hair?
33Dost thou know the revolutions of heaven, or the things on earth corresponding to them?
34Canst thou summon a cloud with thy voice, and will it, with the trembling of a water spout, answer thee?
35Canst thou despatch thunders, that they may go, and will they say to thee, Here we are?
36Who hath given woman a skill in weaving, and a knowledge of the art of embroidering?
37Who is it who numbereth the clouds with wisdom, and hath caused the heaven to incline to the earth, when the earth was poured out like dust, and when I have cemented the very clod as for a stone?
39Wilt thou hunt the prey for lions, or satisfy the appetites of dragons?
40For they are trembling for fear in their dens, and lying in ambush in their coverts.
41Who hath provided food for the raven? For his young have cried to the Lord, wandering about in search of provisions.