Job 38-41

New American Standard Bible 1995

⁸ “Or who ^(I)enclosed the sea with doors
When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;
⁹ When I made a cloud its garment
And thick darkness its swaddling band,
¹⁰ And I ^[b](J)placed boundaries on it
And set a bolt and doors,
¹¹ And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;
And here shall your proud waves stop’?

¹⁶ “Have you entered into ^(O)the springs of the sea
Or walked ^[d]in the recesses of the deep?
¹⁷ “Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
Or have you seen the gates of ^(P)deep darkness?
¹⁸ “Have you understood the ^[e]expanse of ^(Q)the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.

¹⁹ “Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
And darkness, where is its place,
²⁰ That you may take it to ^(R)its territory
And that you may discern the paths to its ^[f]home?
²¹ “You know, for ^(S)you were born then,
And the number of your days is great!
²² “Have you entered the storehouses ^(T)of the snow,
Or have you seen the storehouses of the ^(U)hail,
²³ Which I have reserved for the time of distress,
For the day of war and battle?
²⁴ “Where is the way that ^(V)the light is divided,
Or the east wind scattered on the earth?

²⁵ “Who has cleft a channel for the flood,
Or a way for the thunderbolt,
²⁶ To bring ^(W)rain on a land without ^[g]people,
On a desert without a man in it,
²⁷ To ^(X)satisfy the waste and desolate land
And to make the ^[h]seeds of grass to sprout?
²⁸ “Has ^(Y)the rain a father?
Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
²⁹ “From whose womb has come the ^(Z)ice?
And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?
³⁰ “Water ^[i]becomes hard like stone,
And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

³¹ “Can you bind the chains of the ^(AA)Pleiades,
Or loose the cords of Orion?
³² “Can you lead forth a ^[j]constellation in its season,
And guide the Bear with her ^[k]satellites?
³³ “Do you know the ^(AB)ordinances of the heavens,
Or fix their rule over the earth?

³⁴ “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
So that an ^(AC)abundance of water will cover you?
³⁵ “Can you ^(AD)send forth lightnings that they may go
And say to you, ‘Here we are’?
³⁶ “Who has ^(AE)put wisdom in the innermost being
Or given ^(AF)understanding to the ^[l]mind?
³⁷ “Who can count the clouds by wisdom,
Or ^(AG)tip the water jars of the heavens,
³⁸ When the dust hardens into a mass
And the clods stick together?

³⁹ “Can you hunt the ^(AH)prey for the lion,
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
⁴⁰ When they ^(AI)crouch in their dens
And lie in wait in their lair?
⁴¹ “Who prepares for ^(AJ)the raven its nourishment
When its young cry to God
And wander about without food?

⁵ “Who sent out the ^(AM)wild donkey free?
And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
⁶ To whom I gave ^(AN)the wilderness for a home
And the salt land for his dwelling place?
⁷ “He scorns the tumult of the city,
The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.
⁸ “He explores the mountains for his pasture
And searches after every green thing.
⁹ “Will the ^(AO)wild ox consent to serve you,
Or will he spend the night at your manger?
¹⁰ “Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ^[n]ropes,
Or will he harrow the valleys after you?
¹¹ “Will you trust him because his strength is great
And leave your labor to him?
¹² “Will you have faith in him that he will return your ^[o]grain
And gather it from your threshing floor?

¹³ “The ostriches’ wings flap joyously
With the pinion and plumage of ^[p]love,
¹⁴ For she abandons her eggs to the earth
And warms them in the dust,
¹⁵ And she forgets that a foot may crush ^[q]them,
Or that a wild beast may trample ^[r]them.
¹⁶ “She treats her young ^(AP)cruelly, as if they were not hers;
Though her labor be in vain, she is ^[s]unconcerned;
¹⁷ Because God has made her forget wisdom,
And has not given her a share of understanding.
¹⁸ “When she lifts herself ^[t]on high,
She laughs at the horse and his rider.

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
²⁰ “Do you make him ^(AQ)leap like the locust?
His majestic ^(AR)snorting is terrible.
²¹ “^[u]He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;
He ^(AS)goes out to meet the weapons.
²² “He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
And he does not turn back from the sword.
²³ “The quiver rattles against him,
The flashing spear and javelin.
²⁴ “With shaking and rage he ^[v]races over the ground,
And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet.
²⁵ “As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’
And he scents the battle from afar,
And the thunder of the captains and the war cry.

²⁶ “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,
Stretching his wings toward the south?
²⁷ “Is it at your ^[w]command that the eagle mounts up
And makes ^(AT)his nest on high?
²⁸ “On the cliff he dwells and lodges,
Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.
²⁹ “From there he ^(AU)spies out food;
His eyes see it from afar.
³⁰ “His young ones also suck up blood;
And ^(AV)where the slain are, there is he.”

¹⁰ “^(BH)Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity,
And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.
¹¹ “Pour out ^(BI)the overflowings of your anger,
And look on everyone who is ^(BJ)proud, and make him low.
¹² “Look on everyone who is proud, and ^(BK)humble him,
And ^(BL)tread down the wicked ^[x]where they stand.
¹³ “^(BM)Hide them in the dust together;
Bind ^[y]them in the hidden place.
¹⁴ “Then I will also ^[z]confess to you,
That your own right hand can save you.

¹⁹ “He is the ^(BO)first of the ways of God;
Let his ^(BP)maker bring near his sword.
²⁰ “Surely the mountains ^(BQ)bring him food,
And all the beasts of the field ^(BR)play there.
²¹ “Under the lotus plants he lies down,
In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.
²² “The lotus plants cover him with ^[ad]shade;
The willows of the brook surround him.
²³ “If a river ^[ae]rages, he is not alarmed;
He is confident, though the ^(BS)Jordan rushes to his mouth.
²⁴ “Can anyone capture him ^[af]when he is on watch,
With ^[ag]barbs can anyone pierce his nose?

¹² “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
Or his mighty strength, or his ^[ar]orderly frame.
¹³ “Who can ^[as]strip off his outer armor?
Who can come within his double ^[at]mail?
¹⁴ “Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth there is terror.
¹⁵ “His ^[au]strong scales are his pride,
Shut up as with a tight seal.
¹⁶ “One is so near to another
That no air can come between them.
¹⁷ “They are joined one to another;
They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
¹⁸ “His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the ^(BY)eyelids of the morning.
¹⁹ “Out of his mouth go burning torches;
Sparks of fire leap forth.
²⁰ “Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth
As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
²¹ “His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
²² “In his neck lodges strength,
And dismay leaps before him.
²³ “The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm on him and immovable.
²⁴ “His heart is as hard as a stone,
Even as hard as a lower millstone.
²⁵ “When he raises himself up, the ^[av]mighty fear;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
²⁶ “The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.
²⁷ “He regards iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.
²⁸ “The ^[aw]arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
²⁹ “Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
³⁰ “His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
He ^[ax]spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.
³¹ “He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
³² “Behind him he makes a wake to shine;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
³³ “^(BZ)Nothing on ^[ay]earth is like him,
One made without fear.
³⁴ “^[az]He looks on everything that is high;
He is king over all the ^(CA)sons of pride.”