Job 38-39 (21st Century King James Version)

Job 38

 ¹Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:

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

   
 ³Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me.

   
 ⁴Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.

   
 ⁵Who 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,

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

   
 ⁸Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if it had issued out of the womb;

   
 ⁹when I made the cloud the garment thereof and thick darkness a swaddling band for it,

   
 ¹⁰and broke up for it My decreed place, and set bars and doors,

   
 ¹¹and 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,

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

   
 ¹⁴It is turned as clay under the seal; and they stand out as a garment.

   
 ¹⁵And 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?

   
 ¹⁷Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

   
 ¹⁸Hast 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,

   
 ²⁰that thou shouldest take it to the boundary thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

   
 ²¹Knowest 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,

   
 ²³which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

   
 ²⁴By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

   
 ²⁵Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder,

   
 ²⁶to cause it to rain on the earth where no man is, on the wilderness wherein there is no man;

   
 ²⁷to 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?

   
 ²⁹Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath engendered it?

   
 ³⁰The 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?

   
 ³²Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

   
 ³³Knowest 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?

   
 ³⁵Canst thou send 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 heart?

   
 ³⁷Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can stay the bottles of heaven,

   
 ³⁸when 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,

   
 ⁴⁰when they crouch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

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

   

Job 39

 ¹"Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?

   
 ²Canst thou number the months that they fulfill? Or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?

   
 ³They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones; they cast out their sorrows.

   
 ⁴Their 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,

   
 ⁶whose house I have made the wilderness and the barren land his dwellings?

   
 ⁷He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.

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

   
 ⁹Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?

   
 ¹⁰Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band to the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys behind thee?

   
 ¹¹Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great? Or wilt thou leave thy labor to him?

   
 ¹²Wilt 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,

   
 ¹⁴which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,

   
 ¹⁵and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them?

   
 ¹⁶She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labor is in vain without fear;

   
 ¹⁷because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath He imparted to her understanding.

   
 ¹⁸Yet 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?

   
 ²⁰Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is terrible.

   
 ²¹He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength; he goeth on to meet the armed men.

   
 ²²He mocketh at fear, and is not frightened, neither turneth he back from the sword.

   
 ²³The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.

   
 ²⁴He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.

   
 ²⁵He 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?

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

   
 ²⁸She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock and the strong place.

   
 ²⁹From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.

   
 ³⁰Her young ones also suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is she."