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Job 38

The LORD Speaks

 ² "Who is this that darkens my counsel
       with words without knowledge?

 ³ Brace yourself like a man;
       I will question you,
       and you shall answer me.

 ⁴ "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
       Tell me, if you understand.

 ⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
       Who stretched a measuring line across it?

 ⁶ On what were its footings set,
       or who laid its cornerstone-

 ⁷ while the morning stars sang together
       and all the angels ^[a] shouted for joy?

 ⁸ "Who shut up the sea behind doors
       when it burst forth from the womb,

 ⁹ when I made the clouds its garment
       and wrapped it in thick darkness,

 ¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it
       and set its doors and bars in place,

 ¹¹ when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther;
       here is where your proud waves halt'?

 ¹² "Have you ever given orders to the morning,
       or shown the dawn its place,

 ¹³ that it might take the earth by the edges
       and shake the wicked out of it?

 ¹⁴ The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
       its features stand out like those of a garment.

 ¹⁵ The wicked are denied their light,
       and their upraised arm is broken.

 ¹⁶ "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
       or walked in the recesses of the deep?

 ¹⁷ Have the gates of death been shown to you?
       Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death ^[b] ?

 ¹⁸ Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
       Tell me, if you know all this.

 ¹⁹ "What is the way to the abode of light?
       And where does darkness reside?

 ²⁰ Can you take them to their places?
       Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

 ²¹ Surely you know, for you were already born!
       You have lived so many years!

 ²² "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
       or seen the storehouses of the hail,

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

 ²⁴ What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
       or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

 ²⁵ Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
       and a path for the thunderstorm,

 ²⁶ to water a land where no man lives,
       a desert with no one in it,

 ²⁷ to satisfy a desolate wasteland
       and make it sprout with grass?

 ²⁸ Does the rain have a father?
       Who fathers the drops of dew?

 ²⁹ From whose womb comes the ice?
       Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

 ³⁰ when the waters become hard as stone,
       when the surface of the deep is frozen?

 ³¹ "Can you bind the beautiful ^[c] Pleiades?
       Can you loose the cords of Orion?

 ³² Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons ^[d]
       or lead out the Bear ^[e] with its cubs?

 ³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens?
       Can you set up God's ^[f] dominion over the earth?

 ³⁴ "Can you raise your voice to the clouds
       and cover yourself with a flood of water?

 ³⁵ Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
       Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?

 ³⁶ Who endowed the heart ^[g] with wisdom
       or gave understanding to the mind ^[h] ?

 ³⁷ Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
       Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

 ³⁸ when the dust becomes hard
       and the clods of earth stick together?

 ³⁹ "Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
       and satisfy the hunger of the lions

 ⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens
       or lie in wait in a thicket?

 ⁴¹ Who provides food for the raven
       when its young cry out to God
       and wander about for lack of food?

Job 39

 ¹ "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
       Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

 ² Do you count the months till they bear?
       Do you know the time they give birth?

 ³ They crouch down and bring forth their young;
       their labor pains are ended.

 ⁴ Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
       they leave and do not return.

 ⁵ "Who let the wild donkey go free?
       Who untied his ropes?

 ⁶ I gave him the wasteland as his home,
       the salt flats as his habitat.

 ⁷ He laughs at the commotion in the town;
       he does not hear a driver's shout.

 ⁸ He ranges the hills for his pasture
       and searches for any green thing.

 ⁹ "Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
       Will he stay by your manger at night?

 ¹⁰ Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?
       Will he till the valleys behind you?

 ¹¹ Will you rely on him for his great strength?
       Will you leave your heavy work to him?

 ¹² Can you trust him to bring in your grain
       and gather it to your threshing floor?

 ¹³ "The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
       but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.

 ¹⁴ She lays her eggs on the ground
       and lets them warm in the sand,

 ¹⁵ unmindful that a foot may crush them,
       that some wild animal may trample them.

 ¹⁶ She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
       she cares not that her labor was in vain,

 ¹⁷ for God did not endow her with wisdom
       or give her a share of good sense.

 ¹⁸ Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
       she laughs at horse and rider.

 ¹⁹ "Do you give the horse his strength
       or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?

 ²⁰ Do you make him leap like a locust,
       striking terror with his proud snorting?

 ²¹ He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,
       and charges into the fray.

 ²² He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
       he does not shy away from the sword.

 ²³ The quiver rattles against his side,
       along with the flashing spear and lance.

 ²⁴ In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;
       he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

 ²⁵ At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, 'Aha!'
       He catches the scent of battle from afar,
       the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

 ²⁶ "Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
       and spread his wings toward the south?

 ²⁷ Does the eagle soar at your command
       and build his nest on high?

 ²⁸ He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
       a rocky crag is his stronghold.

 ²⁹ From there he seeks out his food;
       his eyes detect it from afar.

 ³⁰ His young ones feast on blood,
       and where the slain are, there is he."

Job 40

 ¹ The LORD said to Job:

 ² "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
       Let him who accuses God answer him!"

 ³ Then Job answered the LORD :

 ⁴ "I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
       I put my hand over my mouth.

 ⁵ I spoke once, but I have no answer—
       twice, but I will say no more."

 ⁶ Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:

 ⁷ "Brace yourself like a man;
       I will question you,
       and you shall answer me.

 ⁸ "Would you discredit my justice?
       Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

 ⁹ Do you have an arm like God's,
       and can your voice thunder like his?

 ¹⁰ Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
       and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.

 ¹¹ Unleash the fury of your wrath,
       look at every proud man and bring him low,

 ¹² look at every proud man and humble him,
       crush the wicked where they stand.

 ¹³ Bury them all in the dust together;
       shroud their faces in the grave.

 ¹⁴ Then I myself will admit to you
       that your own right hand can save you.

 ¹⁵ "Look at the behemoth, ^[i]
       which I made along with you
       and which feeds on grass like an ox.

 ¹⁶ What strength he has in his loins,
       what power in the muscles of his belly!

 ¹⁷ His tail ^[j] sways like a cedar;
       the sinews of his thighs are close-knit.

 ¹⁸ His bones are tubes of bronze,
       his limbs like rods of iron.

 ¹⁹ He ranks first among the works of God,
       yet his Maker can approach him with his sword.

 ²⁰ The hills bring him their produce,
       and all the wild animals play nearby.

 ²¹ Under the lotus plants he lies,
       hidden among the reeds in the marsh.

 ²² The lotuses conceal him in their shadow;
       the poplars by the stream surround him.

 ²³ When the river rages, he is not alarmed;
       he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth.

 ²⁴ Can anyone capture him by the eyes, ^[k]
       or trap him and pierce his nose?

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