Job 38-39 (Darby Translation)

Job 38

 ¹And Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

 ²Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

 ³Gird up now thy loins like a man; and I will demand of thee, and inform thou me.

 ⁴Where wast thou when I founded the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.

 ⁵Who set the measures thereof -- if thou knowest? or who stretched a line upon it?

 ⁶Whereupon were the foundations thereof sunken? or who laid its corner-stone,

 ⁷When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

 ⁸And who shut up the sea with doors, when it burst forth, issuing out of the womb?

 ⁹When I made the cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it;

 ¹⁰When I cut out for it my boundary, and set bars and doors,

 ¹¹And said, Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

 ¹²Hast thou since thy days commanded the morning? hast thou caused the dawn to know its place,

 ¹³That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked might be shaken out of it?

 ¹⁴It is changed like the signet-clay; and [all things] stand forth as in a garment:

 ¹⁵And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the uplifted arm is broken.

 ¹⁶Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? and hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?

 ¹⁷Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? and hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

 ¹⁸Hath thine understanding compassed the breadths of the earth? Declare if thou knowest it all.

 ¹⁹Where is the way to where light dwelleth? and the darkness, where is its place,

 ²⁰That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths to its house?

 ²¹Thou knowest, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!

 ²²Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, and hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,

 ²³Which I have reserved for the time of distress, for the day of battle and war?

 ²⁴By what way is the light parted, [and] the east wind scattered upon the earth?

 ²⁵Who hath divided a channel for the rain-flood, and a way for the thunder's flash;

 ²⁶To cause it to rain on the earth, where no one is; on the wilderness wherein there is not a man;

 ²⁷To satisfy the desolate and waste [ground], and to cause the sprout of the grass to spring forth?

 ²⁸Hath the rain a father? or who begetteth the drops of dew?

 ²⁹Out of whose womb cometh the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who bringeth it forth?

 ³⁰When the waters lie hidden as in stone, and the face of the deep holdeth fast together.

 ³¹Canst thou fasten the bands of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?

 ³²Dost thou bring forth the constellations each in its season? or dost thou guide the Bear with her sons?

 ³³Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? dost thou determine their rule over the earth?

 ³⁴Dost thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that floods of waters may cover thee?

 ³⁵Dost thou send forth lightnings that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?

 ³⁶Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the mind?

 ³⁷Who numbereth the clouds with wisdom? or who poureth out the bottles of the heavens,

 ³⁸When the dust runneth as into a molten mass, and the clods cleave fast together?

 ³⁹Dost thou hunt the prey for the lioness, and dost thou satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

 ⁴⁰When they crouch in [their] dens, [and] abide in the thicket to lie in wait?

 ⁴¹Who provideth for the raven his food, when his young ones cry unto ùGod, [and] they wander for lack of meat?

Job 39

 ¹Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? dost thou mark the calving of the hinds?

 ²Dost thou number the months that they fulfil? and knowest thou the time when they bring forth?

 ³They bow themselves, they give birth to their young ones, they cast out their pains;

 ⁴Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field, they go forth, and return not unto them.

 ⁵Who hath sent out the wild ass free? and who hath loosed the bands of the onager,

 ⁶Whose house I made the wilderness, and the salt plain his dwellings?

 ⁷He laugheth at the tumult of the city, and heareth not the shouts of the driver;

 ⁸The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.

 ⁹Will the buffalo be willing to serve thee, or will he lodge by thy crib?

 ¹⁰Canst thou bind the buffalo with his cord in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?

 ¹¹Wilt thou put confidence in him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou leave thy labour to him?

 ¹²Wilt thou trust him to bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy threshing-floor?

 ¹³The wing of the ostrich beats joyously -- But is it the stork's pinion and plumage?

 ¹⁴For she leaveth her eggs to the earth, and warmeth them in the dust,

 ¹⁵And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the beast of the field may trample them.

 ¹⁶She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labour is in vain, without her concern.

 ¹⁷For God hath deprived her of wisdom, and hath not furnished her with understanding.

 ¹⁸What time she lasheth herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.

 ¹⁹Hast thou given strength to the horse? hast thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane?

 ²⁰Dost thou make him to leap as a locust? His majestic snorting is terrible.

 ²¹He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in [his] strength; he goeth forth to meet the armed host.

 ²²He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from before the sword.

 ²³The quiver rattleth upon him, the glittering spear and the javelin.

 ²⁴He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, and cannot contain himself at the sound of the trumpet:

 ²⁵At the noise of the trumpets he saith, Aha! and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

 ²⁶Doth the hawk fly by thine intelligence, [and] stretch his wings toward the south?

 ²⁷Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make his nest on high?

 ²⁸He inhabiteth the rock and maketh his dwelling on the point of the cliff, and the fastness:

 ²⁹From thence he spieth out the prey, his eyes look into the distance;

 ³⁰And his young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is he.