Job 38:1-29

Easy-to-Read Version

² “Who is this ignorant person
    saying these foolish things?^[a]
3 Prepare yourself for an attack!
    Get ready to answer the questions I will ask you.

⁴ “Where were you when I made the earth?
    If you are so smart, answer me.
⁵ And who decided how big the earth should be?
    Who measured it with a measuring line?
⁶ What is the earth resting on?
    Who put the first stone in its place
⁷ when the morning stars sang together
    and the angels^[b] shouted with joy?

⁸ “Who closed the flood gates
    as the sea gushed from the womb?
⁹ Who covered it with clouds
    and wrapped it in darkness?
¹⁰ I set the limits for the sea
    and put it behind locked gates.
¹¹ I said to the sea, ‘You can come this far, but no farther.
    This is where your proud waves will stop.’

¹² “Did you ever in your life command the morning to begin
    or the day to dawn?
¹³ Did you ever tell the morning light to grab the earth
    and shake those who are evil out of their hiding places?
¹⁴ The morning light makes the hills
    and valleys easy to see.
When the daylight comes to the earth,
    the shapes of these places stand out like the folds of a coat.
They take shape like soft clay
    that is pressed with a stamp.
¹⁵ Evil people don’t like the daylight.
    When it shines bright, it keeps them from doing the bad things they do.

¹⁶ “Have you ever gone to the deepest parts of the sea?
    Have you ever walked on the ocean bottom?
¹⁷ Has anyone shown you the gates to the world of the dead?
    Have you ever seen those gates that lead to the dark place of death?
¹⁸ Do you really understand how big the earth is?
    Tell me, if you know all this.

¹⁹ “Where does light come from?
    Where does darkness come from?
²⁰ Can you take them back to where they belong?
    Do you know how to get there?
²¹ Surely you know these things, since you are so old and wise.
    You were alive when I made them, weren’t you?^[c]

²² “Have you ever gone into the storerooms
    where I keep the snow and the hail?
²³ I save them there for times of trouble,
    for the times of war and battle.
²⁴ Have you ever gone to the place where the sun comes up,
    where it makes the east wind blow all over the earth?^[d]
25 Who dug ditches in the sky for the heavy rain?
    Who made a path for the thunderstorm?
²⁶ Who makes it rain even in desert places
    where no one lives?
²⁷ The rain gives that dry empty land all the water it needs,
    and grass begins to grow.
²⁸ Does the rain have a father?
    Who produces the drops of dew?
²⁹ Does ice have a mother?
    Who gives birth to the frost?