Job 38
Names of God Bible
The Lord Speaks: Who Is Able to Challenge Me?
38 Then Yahweh answered Job out of the storm.
2 “Who is this that belittles my advice
with words that do not show any knowledge about it?
3 Brace yourself like a man!
I will ask you, and you will teach me.
The Lord Speaks about Creation
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me if you have such insight.
5 Who determined its dimensions?
Certainly, you know!
Who stretched a measuring line over it?
6 On what were its footings sunk?
Who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of Elohim shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut the sea behind gates
when it burst through and came out of the womb,
9 when I clothed it with clouds
and wrapped it up in dark clouds,
10 when I set a limit for it
and put up bars and gates,
11 when I said, ‘You may come this far but no farther.
Here your proud waves will stop’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning
or assigned a place for the dawn
13 so that it could grab the earth by its edges
and shake wicked people out of it?
14 The earth changes like clay stamped by a seal,
and parts of it stand out like folds in clothing.
15 Wicked people are deprived of their light,
and an arm raised in victory is broken.
16 Have you gone to the springs in the sea
or walked through the valleys of the ocean depths?
17 Have the gateways to death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gateways to total darkness?
18 Have you even considered how wide the earth is?
Tell me, if you know all of this!
19 “What is the way to the place where light lives?
Where is the home of darkness
20 so that you may lead it to its territory,
so that you may know the path to its home?
21 You must know because you were born then
and have lived such a long time!
22 Have you been to the warehouses where snow is stored
or seen the warehouses for hail
23 that I have stored up for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
24 Which is the way to the place where light is scattered
and the east wind is spread across the earth?
25 “Who made a channel for the flooding rains
and a path for the thunderstorms
26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
on a desert where there are no humans,
27 to saturate the desolate wasteland
in order to make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who gave birth to the dewdrops?
29 From whose womb came the ice,
and who has given birth to the frost in the air?
30 The water hardens like a stone,
and the surface of the ocean freezes over.
31 “Can you connect the chains of the constellation Pleiades
or untie the ropes of Orion?
32 Can you bring out the constellations at the right time
or guide Ursa Major with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the sky
or make them rule the earth?
34 Can you call to the clouds
and have a flood of water cover you?
35 Can you send lightning flashes so that they may go and say to you,
‘Here we are’?
36 Who put wisdom in the heart
or gave understanding to the mind?[a]
37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds
or pour out the water jars of heaven
38 when the dirt hardens into clumps
and the soil clings together?
The Lioness
39 “Can you hunt prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of her cubs
40 as they crouch in their dens
and lie ready to ambush from their lairs?
The Crow
41 “Who provides food for the crow
when its young ones cry to El
and wander around in need of food?
Footnotes
- Job 38:36 Hebrew meaning uncertain.
Job 38
Common English Bible
The Lord answers from a whirlwind
38 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:
2 Who is this darkening counsel
with words lacking knowledge?
3 Prepare yourself like a man;
I will interrogate you, and you will respond to me.
The establishing of order
4 Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?
Tell me if you know.
5 Who set its measurements? Surely you know.
Who stretched a measuring tape on it?
6 On what were its footings sunk;
who laid its cornerstone,
7 while the morning stars sang in unison
and all the divine beings shouted?
8 Who enclosed the Sea[a] behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment,
the dense clouds its wrap,
10 when I imposed[b] my limit for it,
put on a bar and doors
11 and said, “You may come this far, no farther;
here your proud waves stop”?
12 In your lifetime have you commanded the morning,
informed the dawn of its place
13 so it would take hold of earth by its edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 Do you turn it over like clay for a seal,
so it stands out like a colorful garment?
15 Light is withheld from the wicked,
the uplifted arm broken.
The vast beyond
16 Have you gone to the sea’s sources,
walked in the chamber of the deep?
17 Have death’s gates been revealed to you;
can you see the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you surveyed earth’s expanses?
Tell me if you know everything about it.
19 Where’s the road to the place where light dwells;
darkness, where’s it located?
20 Can you take it to its territory;
do you know the paths to its house?
21 You know, for you were born then;
you have lived such a long time![c]
22 Have you gone to snow’s storehouses,
seen the storehouses of hail
23 that I have reserved for a time of distress,
for a day of battle and war?
24 What is the way to the place where light is divided up;
the east wind scattered over earth?
Meteorological facts
25 Who cut a channel for the downpours
and a way for blasts of thunder
26 to bring water to uninhabited land,
a desert with no human
27 to saturate dry wasteland
and make grass sprout?
28 Has the rain a father
who brought forth drops of dew?
29 From whose belly does ice come;
who gave birth to heaven’s frost?
30 Water hardens like stone;
the surface of the deep thickens.
31 Can you bind Pleiades’ chains
or loosen the reins of Orion?
32 Can you guide the stars
at their proper times,
lead the Bear with her cubs?
33 Do you know heaven’s laws,
or can you impose its rule on earth?
34 Can you issue an order to the clouds
so their abundant waters cover you?
35 Can you send lightning so that it goes
and then says to you, “I’m here”?
36 Who put wisdom in remote places,
or who gave understanding to a rooster?[d]
37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds,
and who can tilt heaven’s water containers
38 so that dust becomes mud
and clods of dirt adhere?
Lion and raven
39 Can you hunt prey for the lion
or fill the cravings of lion cubs?
40 They lie in their den,
lie in ambush in their lair.
41 Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry to God,
move about without food?
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible