38 ¶ Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

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

³ Now gird up thy loins like a man; for I will enquire of thee, and answer thou me.

⁴ ¶ Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Cause me to know, if thou hast understanding.

⁵ Who ordered its dimensions, if thou knowest? Or who has stretched the line upon it?

⁶ Upon what are its foundations founded? Or who laid its corner stone;

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 clouds its garment and thick darkness a swaddling band for it,

¹⁰ and established my decree upon it, and set bars and doors,

¹¹ and said, Thou shalt come unto here, but no further; and there shall the pride of thy waves be stayed.

¹² ¶ Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days? Hast thou shown the dayspring its 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 transformed as clay to the seal and then stands as a garment;

¹⁵ but the light of the wicked is taken from them, and the high arm is broken.

¹⁶ Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or hast thou walked searching out the deep?

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 to the habitation of the light, and where is the place of the darkness?

²⁰ If thou shalt take it in its borders, and if thou should understand the paths to its house?

²¹ If thou didst know when thou wast to be born or if the number of thy days was to be great?

²² Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow, and hast thou seen the treasures 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 divided; from where is the east wind scattered upon the earth?

²⁵ ¶ Who has 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, in which 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 Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of the dew?

²⁹ Out of whose womb came the ice, and the hoary frost of heaven, who has begotten it?

³⁰ The waters harden as 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 the signs of the heavens in their season, or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

³³ Dost thou know the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou use its power in 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 put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who gave intelligence to understanding?

³⁷ Who declared the heavens in wisdom? Or who can stay the bottles of heaven

³⁸ when the dust hardens 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 their lairs to lie in wait?

⁴¹ Who provided food for the raven; when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of food?