Job 38

1Then GOD replied to Job out of the tempest and said:

2Who is this who darkens counsel,Speaking without knowledge?

3Gird your loins like a man;—prepare to defend yourself (verbally), for I am about to challenge you. I will ask and you will inform Me.

4Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?Speak if you have understanding.

5Do you know who fixed its dimensionsOr who measured it with a line?

6Onto what were its bases sunk?Who set its cornerstone

7When the morning stars sang togetherAnd all the divine beings shouted for joy?

8Who closed the sea behind doorsWhen it gushed forth out of the womb,

9When I clothed it in clouds,Swaddled it in dense clouds,

10When I made breakers My limit for it,And set up its bar and doors,

11And said, “You may come so far and no farther;Here your surging waves will stop”?

12Have you ever commanded the day to break,Assigned the dawn its place,

13So that it seizes the corners of the earthAnd shakes the wicked out of it?

14It changes like clay under the sealTill [its hues] are fixed like those of a garment.

15Their light is withheld from the wicked,And the upraised arm is broken.

16Have you penetrated to the sources of the sea,Or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17Have the gates of death been disclosed to you?Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

18Have you surveyed the expanses of the earth?If you know of these—tell Me.

19Which path leads to where light dwells,And where is the place of darkness,

20That you may take it to its domainAnd know the way to its home?

21Surely you know, for you were born then,And the number of your years is many!

22Have you penetrated the vaults of snow,Seen the vaults of hail,

23Which I have put aside for a time of adversity,For a day of war and battle?

24By what path is the west wind. dispersed,The east wind scattered over the earth?

25Who cut a channel for the torrentsAnd a path for the thunderstorms,

26To rain down on uninhabited land,On the wilderness where no one lives,

27To saturate the desolate wasteland,And make the crop of grass sprout forth?

28Does the rain have a progenitor?Who begot the dewdrops?

29From whose belly came forth the ice?Who gave birth to the frost of heaven?

30Water congeals like stone,And the surface of the deep compacts.

31Can you tie cords to PleiadesOr undo the reins of Orion?

32Can you lead out Mazzaroth in its season,Conduct the Bear with her children?

33Do you know the laws of heavenOr impose its authority on earth?

34Can you send up an order to the cloudsFor an abundance of water to cover you?

35Can you dispatch the lightning on a missionAnd have it answer you, “I am ready”?

36Who put wisdom in the hidden parts?Who gave understanding to the mind?

37Who is wise enough to give an account of the heavens?Who can tilt the bottles of the sky,

38Whereupon the earth melts into a mass,And its clods stick together.

39Can you hunt prey for the lion,And satisfy the appetite of the king of beasts?

40They crouch in their dens,Lie in ambush in their lairs.

41Who provides food for the ravenWhen its young cry out to GodAnd wander about without food?