Job 38 (New American Standard)

God Speaks Now to Job

1 Then the LORD ¹answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 2 "Who is this that ²darkens counsel By words without knowledge ? 3 "Now ³gird up your loins like a man, And ⁴I will ask you, and you instruct Me! 4 "Where were you ⁵when I laid the foundation of the earth ? Tell Me, if you ^ahave understanding, 5 Who set its ⁶measurements ? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 6 "On what ⁷were its bases sunk ? Or who laid its cornerstone , 7 When the morning stars sang together And all the ⁸sons of God shouted for joy ? 8 "Or who ⁹enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb ; 9 When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 And I ^b10placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, 11 And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther ; And here shall your proud waves stop '?

God's Mighty Power

12 "Have you ^cever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place, 13 That it might take hold of ¹¹the ends of the earth, And ¹²the wicked be shaken out of it? 14 "It is changed like clay under the seal ; And they stand forth like a garment. 15 "¹³From the wicked their light is withheld, And the ¹⁴uplifted arm is broken. 16 "Have you entered into ¹⁵the springs of the sea Or walked ^din the recesses of the deep ? 17 "Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of ¹⁶deep darkness ? 18 "Have you understood the ^eexpanse of ¹⁷the earth ? Tell Me, if you know all this. 19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light ? And darkness, where is its place, 20 That you may take it to ¹⁸its territory And that you may discern the paths to its ^fhome ? 21 "You know, for ¹⁹you were born then, And the number of your days is great ! 22 "Have you entered the storehouses ²⁰of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the ²¹hail, 23 Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle ? 24 "Where is the way that ²²the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth ? 25 "Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt , 26 To bring ²³rain on a land without ^gpeople, On a desert without a man in it, 27 To ²⁴satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the ^hseeds of grass to sprout ? 28 "Has ²⁵the rain a father ? Or who has begotten the drops of dew ? 29 "From whose womb has come the ²⁶ice ? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth ? 30 "Water ⁱbecomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned. 31 "Can you bind the chains of the ²⁷Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion ? 32 "Can you lead forth a ^jconstellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her ^ksatellites ? 33 "Do you know the ²⁸ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth ? 34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an ²⁹abundance of water will cover you? 35 "Can you ³⁰send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'? 36 "Who has ³¹put wisdom in the innermost being Or given ³²understanding to the ^lmind ? 37 "Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or ³³tip the water jars of the heavens, 38 When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together ? 39 "Can you hunt the ³⁴prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 40 When they ³⁵crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair ? 41 "Who prepares for ³⁶the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food ?