Beginning
The Lord Questions Job
38 Then the Lord answered Job from the ·storm [whirlwind; 9:17]. He said:
2 “Who is this that makes my ·purpose [L counsel; advice] ·unclear [L dark]
·by saying things that are not true [L with ignorant words]?
3 ·Be strong [Brace yourself; L Gird your loins] like a man!
I will ask you questions,
and you must ·answer [inform] me.
4 Where were you when I made the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off ·how big it should be [L its measurements]? Surely you know!
Who stretched a ·ruler [line; C surveyor’s instrument] across it?
6 What were the earth’s foundations ·set on [L sunk in],
or who put its cornerstone in place
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the ·angels [L sons of god] shouted with joy?
8 “Who shut the doors to keep the sea in
when it broke through ·and was born [L coming out of the womb],
9 when I made the clouds like a coat for the sea
and ·wrapped [swaddled] it in dark clouds,
10 when I ·put [prescribed] ·limits [boundaries] on the sea
and put its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said to the sea, ‘You may come this far, but no farther;
this is where your proud waves must stop’?
12 “Have you ever ordered the morning to begin,
or ·shown [informed] the dawn where its place was
13 in order to ·take hold of [grasp] the earth by its edges [C the horizon]
and shake evil people out of it [C the light exposes the wicked]?
14 At dawn the earth changes like clay being pressed by a seal;
·the hills and valleys [L They] stand out like ·folds in a coat [L a garment].
15 Light is ·not given to [held back from] evil people;
their arm is raised to do harm, but it is broken.
16 “Have you ever gone to ·where the sea begins [L the sources of the sea]
or walked in the ·valleys under the sea [L depths of the deep]?
17 Have the gates of death been ·opened [or revealed] to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deep darkness?
18 Do you understand how wide the earth is?
Tell me, if you know all these things.
19 “What is the path to light’s home,
and where does darkness live?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the ·way [path] to their homes?
21 Surely you know, if you were already born when all this happened!
Have you lived that many years?
22 “Have you ever gone into the storehouse of the snow
or seen the storehouses for hail,
23 which I save for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 Where is the place from which light ·comes [L is distributed]?
Where is the place from which the east winds ·blow [scatter] over the earth?
25 Who cuts a waterway for the heavy rains
and sets a path for the thunderstorm?
26 Who waters the land where no one lives,
the ·desert [wilderness] that has no one in it?
27 Who sends rain to satisfy the ·empty [L ruined and desolate] land
so the grass begins to grow?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who ·is father [L has given birth] to the drops of dew?
29 ·Who is the mother of the ice [L From whose womb did the ice come out]?
Who gives birth to the frost from the ·sky [heavens]
30 when the water becomes hard as stone,
and even the surface of the ·ocean [deep] is frozen?
31 “Can you tie up the ·stars [L chains] of the Pleiades
or ·loosen [open] the ·ropes of the stars in [L fetters of] Orion?
32 Can you bring out ·the stars [L Mazzeroth; C probably the name of a specific constellation] on time
or lead out the stars of the Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the ·sky [heavens]
and ·understand [or set] their rule over the earth?
34 “Can you ·shout an order [L raise your voice] to the clouds
·and [or so that you] cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Can you send lightning bolts on their way?
Do they come to you and say, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who put wisdom ·inside the mind [or in the ibis; C an animal associated with wisdom and representing Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom]
or understanding ·in the heart [or to the rooster]?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can ·pour water from the jars [L tilt the wineskins] of the ·sky [heavens]
38 when the dust becomes hard
and the clumps of dirt stick together?
39 “Do you hunt food for the lioness
to satisfy the hunger of the young lions
40 while they ·lie [crouch] in their dens
or hide in the bushes waiting to attack?
41 Who gives food to the ·birds [L raven]
when their young cry out to God
and wander about without food?
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch ·when the deer gives birth to her fawn [L the birth pangs of the deer]?
2 Do you count the months until they ·give birth [are fulfilled]
and know the right time for them to give birth?
3 They lie down, their young are born,
and ·then the pain of giving birth is over [L deliver their fetuses].
4 Their young ones grow big and strong in the wild country.
Then they leave their homes and do not return.
5 “Who let the ·wild donkey [or onager; C a donkey-like animal also known as the Asian wild ass; Gen. 16:12] go free?
Who untied ·its ropes [L the Arabian onager from its bonds; C another Hebrew word for a wild donkey]?
6 I am the one who gave ·the donkey [L it] the ·desert [steppe] as its home;
I gave it the ·desert [L salt] lands as a place to live.
7 ·The wild donkey [L It] ·laughs [scoffs] at the ·confusion [tumult; noise] in the city,
and it does not hear the drivers shout.
8 It ·roams [scouts out] the ·hills [mountains] looking for pasture,
looking for anything green to eat.
9 “Will the wild ox agree to serve you
and stay by your ·feeding box [stable] at night?
10 Can you hold it to the ·plowed row [furrow] with a ·harness [rope]
so it will ·plow [harrow] the valleys for you?
11 Will you depend on the wild ox for its great strength
and ·leave [hand over] your heavy work for it to do?
12 Can you trust the ox to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap happily,
but ·they are not like the feathers of the stork [or its pinions lack plumage].
14 The ostrich lays its eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the ·sand [dust].
15 It ·does not stop to think [forgets] that a foot might step on them and crush them;
·it does not care that some animal [L or a wild animal] might ·walk on [trample] them.
16 The ostrich ·is cruel to [treats harshly] its young, as if they were not even its own.
It does not care that its work is for nothing,
17 because God ·did not give the ostrich [or made her forget] wisdom;
God did not give it a share of ·good sense [understanding].
18 But when ·the ostrich gets up to run, it is so fast
that [or it flaps its wings aloft and] it laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 “Job, are you the one who gives the horse its strength
or puts a flowing mane on its neck?
20 Do you make the horse ·jump like a locust [or quiver like locust wings]?
It scares people with its ·proud [splendid] snorting.
21 It paws ·wildly [or the dirt of the valley], enjoying its strength,
and ·charges into battle [L goes out to encounter the weapons].
22 It laughs at ·fear [or danger] and is afraid of nothing;
it does not run away from the sword.
23 The ·bag of arrows [quiver] rattles against the horse’s side,
along with the flashing ·spears and swords [or javelins and spears].
24 With ·great excitement [L trembling and shaking], the horse ·races over [L swallows up] the ground;
and it cannot stand still when it hears the ·trumpet [ram’s horn].
25 When the ·trumpet [ram’s horn] blows, the horse snorts, ‘Aha!’
It ·smells [senses] the battle from far away;
·it hears the shouts [L the thunder] of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Is it through your ·wisdom [understanding] that the ·hawk [or falcon] ·flies [soars]
and spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Are you the one that commands the eagle to fly
and build its nest so high?
28 It lives on a high cliff and stays there at night;
the ·rocky [sharp] peak is its ·protected place [fortress].
29 From there it ·looks [scouts] for its food;
its eyes can see it from far away.
30 Its young ·eat [suck; gorge on] blood,
and where ·there is something dead [the slain are], the eagle is there.”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.