Where were you (A)when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you [a]have understanding,
Who set its (B)measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the measuring line over it?
On what (C)were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together
And all the (D)sons of God shouted for joy?

“Or who (E)enclosed the sea with doors
When it went out from the womb, bursting forth;
When I made a cloud its garment,
And thick darkness its swaddling bands,
10 And I [b](F)placed boundaries on it
And set a bolt and doors,
11 And I said, ‘As far as this point you shall come, but no farther;
And here your proud waves shall stop’?

God’s Mighty Power

12 “Have you [c]ever in your life commanded the morning,
And made the dawn know its place,
13 So that it would take hold of (G)the ends of the earth,
And (H)the wicked would be shaken off from it?
14 It is changed like clay under the seal;
And they stand out like a garment.
15 (I)Their light is withheld from the wicked,
And the (J)uplifted arm is broken.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 38:4 Lit know understanding
  2. Job 38:10 Lit broke My decree on it
  3. Job 38:12 Lit from your days commanded

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
    Tell me, if you know so much.
Who determined its dimensions
    and stretched out the surveying line?
What supports its foundations,
    and who laid its cornerstone
as the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?

“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
    as it burst from the womb,
and as I clothed it with clouds
    and wrapped it in thick darkness?
10 For I locked it behind barred gates,
    limiting its shores.
11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
    Here your proud waves must stop!’

12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
    and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
    to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
14 As the light approaches,
    the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
    it is robed in brilliant colors.[b]
15 The light disturbs the wicked
    and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

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Footnotes

  1. 38:7 Hebrew the sons of God.
  2. 38:14 Or its features stand out like folds in a robe.