Job 38
Complete Jewish Bible
38 Then Adonai answered Iyov out of the storm:
2 “Who is this, darkening my plans
with his ignorant words?
3 Stand up like a man, and brace yourself;
I will ask questions; and you, give the answers!
4 “Where were you when I founded the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
5 Do you know who determined its dimensions
or who stretched the measuring line across it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind closed doors
when it gushed forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its blanket
and dense fog its swaddling cloth,
10 when I made the breakers its boundary
set its gates and bars,
11 and said, ‘You may come this far, but no farther;
here your proud waves must stop’?
12 “Have you ever in your life called up the dawn
and made the morning know its place,
13 so that it could take hold of the edges of the earth
and shake the wicked out of it?
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?
25 Who cut a channel for the downpours,
or a way for the lightning and thunder,
26 causing it to rain where no one is,
in a desert without anyone there,
27 drenching the waste and desolate [ground],
till the tender grass sprouts?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who is the father of dewdrops?
29 From whose womb does ice come?
Who gives birth to the frost of heaven,
30 when water becomes as hard as stone,
and the surface of the deep freezes solid?
31 “Can you tie up the cords of the Pleiades
or loosen the belt of Orion?
32 Can you lead out the constellations of the zodiac in their season
or guide the Great Bear and its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the sky?
Can you determine how they affect the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and make them cover you with a flood of rain?
35 Can you send lightning bolts on their way?
Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 “Who put wisdom in people’s inner parts?
Who gave understanding to the mind?
37 Who, by wisdom, can number the clouds?
Who can tilt the water-skins of heaven,
38 so that the dust becomes a mass [of mud],
and its clods stick together?
39 “Can you hunt prey for a lioness
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in ambush in their lairs?
41 Who provides food for the raven
when his young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Job 38
21st Century King James Version
38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
2 “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me.
4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 “Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof,
7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if it had issued out of the womb;
9 when I made the cloud the garment thereof and thick darkness a swaddling band for it,
10 and broke up for it My decreed place, and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed’?
12 “Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days, and caused the dayspring to know his place,
13 that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14 It is turned as clay under the seal; and they stand out as a garment.
15 And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the high arm shall be broken.
16 “Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or hast thou walked in the search of the depths?
17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? Declare if thou knowest it all.
19 “Where is the way where light dwelleth? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
20 that thou shouldest take it to the boundary thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?
21 Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born, or because the number of thy days is great?
22 “Hast thou entered into the treasure house of the snow, or hast thou seen the treasure house of the hail,
23 which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder,
26 to cause it to rain on the earth where no man is, on the wilderness wherein there is no man;
27 to satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
28 “Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath engendered it?
30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the dominion thereof over the earth?
34 “Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go and say unto thee, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts, or who hath given understanding to the heart?
37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
38 when the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
39 “Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion, or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 Who provideth for the raven his food, when his young ones cry unto God, and wander for lack of meat?
Job 39
Complete Jewish Bible
39 “Do you know when mountain goats give birth?
Have you seen deer in labor?
2 Can you tell how many months they carry their young?
Do you know when they give birth,
3 when they crouch down and bring forth their young,
when they deliver their fawns?
4 Their young become strong, growing up in the open;
they leave and never return.
5 “Who lets the wild donkey roam freely?
Who sets the wild donkey loose from its shackles?
6 I made the ‘Aravah its home,
the salty desert its place to live.
7 It scorns the noise of the city
and hears no driver’s shouts.
8 It ranges over the hills for its pasture,
searching for anything green.
9 “Would a wild ox be willing to serve you?
Would it stay by your stall?
10 Could you tie a rope around its neck
and make it plow furrows for you?
11 Would you trust its great strength enough
to let it do your heavy work,
12 or rely on it to bring home your seed
and gather the grain from your threshing-floor?
13 “An ostrich’s wings beat wildly,
although its pinions lack plumage.
14 It leaves its eggs on the ground
and lets them be warmed by the sand,
15 forgetting that a foot may crush them
or a wild animal trample on them.
16 It treats its chicks heartlessly,
as if they were not its own;
even if her labor is in vain,
it really doesn’t care;
17 because God has deprived it of wisdom
and given it no share in understanding.
18 When the time comes, it flaps its wings,
scorning both horse and rider.
19 “Did you give the horse its strength?
Did you clothe its neck with a mane?
20 Did you make him able to leap like a locust?
Its majestic snorting is frightening!
21 It paws with force and exults with vigor,
then charges into the battle;
22 mocking at fear, unafraid,
it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The [rider’s] quiver rattles over it,
[his] gleaming spear and javelin.
24 Frenzied and eager, it devours the ground,
scarcely believing the shofar has sounded.
25 At the sound of the shofar it whinnies;
as from afar it scents the battle,
the roar of the chiefs and the shouting.
26 “Is it your wisdom that sets the hawk soaring,
spreading its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle fly up when you say so,
to build its nest in the heights?
28 It lives and spends its nights on the cliffs;
a rocky crag is its fortress.
29 From there it spots its prey,
its eyes see it far off.
30 Its young ones suck up blood;
wherever the slain are, there it is.”
Job 39
21st Century King James Version
39 “Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
2 Canst thou number the months that they fulfill? Or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones; they cast out their sorrows.
4 Their young ones are sturdy; they grow up with corn; they go forth and return not unto them.
5 “Who hath sent out the wild ass free? Or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass,
6 whose house I have made the wilderness and the barren land his dwellings?
7 He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.
9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
10 Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band to the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys behind thee?
11 Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great? Or wilt thou leave thy labor to him?
12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home the seed and gather it into thy barn?
13 “Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? Or wings and feathers unto the ostrich,
14 which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,
15 and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them?
16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labor is in vain without fear;
17 because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath He imparted to her understanding.
18 Yet when she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.
19 “Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is terrible.
21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength; he goeth on to meet the armed men.
22 He mocketh at fear, and is not frightened, neither turneth he back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
25 He saith among the trumpets, ‘Ha, ha!’ And he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 “Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock and the strong place.
29 From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.
30 Her young ones also suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is she.”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.