Job 38:14-24

14 Then the earth is changed like clay under a seal, until its colors are fixed like those of a garment.

15 But from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm raised [to strike] is broken.

16 "Have you gone down to the springs of the sea or explored the limits of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you, the gates of death-like darkness?

18 Have you surveyed the full extent of the earth? Say so, if you know it all!

19 "Which way leads to where light has its home? and darkness, where does it dwell?

20 If you knew, you could take each to its place and set it on its homeward path.

21 You know, of course, because you were born then; by now you must be very old!

22 "Have you gone into the storehouses for snow or seen the storehouses for hail,

23 which I save for times of trouble, for days of battle and war?

24 "By what path is light dispersed, or the east wind poured out on the land?

Job 38:14-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 38

In this chapter the Lord takes up the controversy with Job; calls upon him to prepare to engage with him in it, and demands an answer to posing questions he puts to him, concerning the earth and the fabric of it, Job 38:1-7; concerning the sea, compared to an infant in embryo, at its birth, in its swaddling bands and cradle, Job 38:8-11; concerning the morning light, its spread and influence, Job 38:12-15; concerning the springs of the sea, the dark parts of the earth, the place both of light and darkness, Job 38:16-21; concerning the various meteors, snow, hail, rain, thunder, lightning, and the influences of the stars, Job 38:22-38; and concerning provision for lions and ravens, Job 38:40,41.