Job 38
New Living Translation
The Lord Challenges Job
38 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom
with such ignorant words?
3 Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
5 Who determined its dimensions
and stretched out the surveying line?
6 What supports its foundations,
and who laid its cornerstone
7 as the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?
8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
as it burst from the womb,
9 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.
16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
Have you explored their depths?
17 Do you know where the gates of death are located?
Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
18 Do you realize the extent of the earth?
Tell me about it if you know!
19 “Where does light come from,
and where does darkness go?
20 Can you take each to its home?
Do you know how to get there?
21 But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
and you are so very experienced!
22 “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of hail?
23 (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war.)
24 Where is the path to the source of light?
Where is the home of the east wind?
25 “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain?
Who laid out the path for the lightning?
26 Who makes the rain fall on barren land,
in a desert where no one lives?
27 Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground
and make the tender grass spring up?
28 “Does the rain have a father?
Who gives birth to the dew?
29 Who is the mother of the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?
30 For the water turns to ice as hard as rock,
and the surface of the water freezes.
31 “Can you direct the movement of the stars—
binding the cluster of the Pleiades
or loosening the cords of Orion?
32 Can you direct the constellations through the seasons
or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
33 Do you know the laws of the universe?
Can you use them to regulate the earth?
34 “Can you shout to the clouds
and make it rain?
35 Can you make lightning appear
and cause it to strike as you direct?
36 Who gives intuition to the heart
and instinct to the mind?
37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?
Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
38 when the parched ground is dry
and the soil has hardened into clods?
39 “Can you stalk prey for a lioness
and satisfy the young lions’ appetites
40 as they lie in their dens
or crouch in the thicket?
41 Who provides food for the ravens
when their young cry out to God
and wander about in hunger?
Job 38
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Lord Answers Job
38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:(A)
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?(B)
3 Gird up your loins like a man;
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.(C)
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.(D)
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone(E)
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings[a] shouted for joy?(F)
8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,(G)
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,(H)
10 and prescribed bounds for it,
and set bars and doors,(I)
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?(J)
12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began
and caused the dawn to know its place,(K)
13 so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?(L)
14 It is changed like clay under the seal,
and it is dyed[b] like a garment.
15 Light is withheld from the wicked,
and their uplifted arm is broken.(M)
16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?(N)
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?(O)
18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.(P)
19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
20 that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?(Q)
21 Surely you know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!(R)
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,(S)
23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?(T)
24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?(U)
25 “Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt,(V)
26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
on the desert, which is empty of human life,(W)
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground put forth grass?(X)
28 “Has the rain a father,
or who has fathered the drops of dew?(Y)
29 From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?(Z)
30 The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loose the cords of Orion?(AA)
32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?(AB)
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of waters may cover you?(AC)
35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?(AD)
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts[c]
or given understanding to the mind?[d](AE)
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens
38 when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods cling together?
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.