Job 38
Christian Standard Bible
The Lord Speaks
38 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind.(A) He said:
2 Who is this who obscures my counsel
with ignorant words?(B)
3 Get ready to answer me like a man;
when I question(C) you, you will inform me.
4 Where were you when I established(D) the earth?
Tell me, if you have[a] understanding.
5 Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God(E) shouted for joy?
8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors
when it burst from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and total darkness its blanket,[b](F)
10 when I determined its boundaries[c]
and put its bars and doors in place,
11 when I declared, “You may come this far, but no farther;
your proud waves stop here”?
12 Have you ever in your life commanded the morning
or assigned the dawn its place,
13 so it may seize the edges of the earth
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth is changed as clay is by a seal;
its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
15 Light[d] is withheld from the wicked,
and the arm raised in violence is broken.
16 Have you traveled to the sources of the sea
or walked in the depths of the oceans?
17 Have the gates(G) of death been revealed to you?
Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the extent of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 Where is the road to the home of light?
Do you know where darkness lives,
20 so you can lead it back to its border?
Are you familiar with the paths to its home?
21 Don’t you know? You were already born;(H)
you have lived so long![e]
22 Have you entered the place where the snow is stored?
Or have you seen the storehouses of hail,(I)
23 which I hold in reserve for times of trouble,
for the day of warfare and battle?(J)
24 What road leads to the place where light is dispersed?[f]
Where is the source of the east wind that spreads across the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the flooding rain
or clears the way for lightning,
26 to bring rain on an uninhabited land,
on a desert with no human life,[g]
27 to satisfy the parched wasteland
and cause the grass to sprout?(K)
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathered the drops of dew?(L)
29 Whose womb did the ice come from?
Who gave birth to the frost of heaven
30 when water becomes as hard as stone,[h]
and the surface of the watery depths is frozen?(M)
31 Can you fasten the chains of the Pleiades
or loosen the belt of Orion?
32 Can you bring out the constellations[i] in their season
and lead the Bear[j] and her cubs?(N)
33 Do you know the laws(O) of heaven?
Can you impose its[k] authority on earth?
34 Can you command[l] the clouds
so that a flood of water covers you?(P)
35 Can you send out lightning(Q) bolts, and they go?
Do they report to you, “Here we are”?
36 Who put wisdom(R) in the heart[m]
or gave the mind understanding?
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the water jars of heaven
38 when the dust hardens like cast metal
and the clods of dirt stick together?
39 Can you hunt prey for a lioness
or satisfy the appetite of young lions(S)
40 when they crouch in their dens
and lie in wait within their lairs?
41 Who provides the raven’s food(T)
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Footnotes
- 38:4 Lit know
- 38:9 Lit swaddling clothes
- 38:10 Lit I broke my statute on it
- 38:15 Lit Their light
- 38:21 Lit born; the number of your days is great
- 38:24 Or where lightning is distributed
- 38:26 Lit no man in it
- 38:30 Lit water hides itself as the stone
- 38:32 Or Mazzaroth; Hb obscure
- 38:32 Or lead Aldebaran
- 38:33 Or God’s
- 38:34 Lit lift up your voice to
- 38:36 Or the inner self; Ps 51:6
Job 38
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Answers Job
38 Then Yahweh (A)answered Job out of the [a]whirlwind and said,
2 “Who is this that (B)darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
3 Now (C)gird up your loins like a man,
And (D)I will ask you, and you make Me know!
4 Where were you (E)when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know understanding,
5 Who set its (F)measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the line on it?
6 On what (G)were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars sang together
And all the (H)sons of God shouted for joy?
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 dense gloom 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’?
Yahweh Answers Job, “Have You?”
12 “Have you [c]ever in your life commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place,
13 That it might seize (K)the ends of the earth,
And (L)the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It is changed like clay under the seal;
And they stand forth like clothing.
15 (M)From the wicked their light is withheld,
And the arm (N)raised high is broken.
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 the (P)shadow of death?
18 Have you carefully considered the [e]expanse of (Q)the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.
19 “Where is the way to where the light dwells?
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 conduit 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 growth 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 [h]becomes hard like stone,
And the surface of the deep [i]is interlocked.
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)statutes of the heavens,
Or fix their rule over the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice up 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)given wisdom in the [l]innermost being
Or given (AF)understanding to the [m]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?
Yahweh Answers Job, “Where Were You?”
39 “Can you hunt the (AH)prey for the lion,
Or fulfill 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 provision
When its young cry for help to God
And wander about without food?
Footnotes
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