Job 38
38:1 Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,
38:2 "Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
38:3 Brace yourself like a man, For I will question you, then you answer me!
38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
38:5 Who determined the measures of it, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
38:6 Whereupon were the foundations of it fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
38:7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
38:8 "Or who shut up the sea with doors, When it broke forth from the womb,
38:9 When I made clouds the garment of it, Thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,
38:10 Marked out for it my bound, Set bars and doors,
38:11 And said, 'Here you may come, but no further; Here shall your proud waves be stayed?'
38:12 "Have you commanded the morning in your days, And caused the dawn to know its place;
38:13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And shake the wicked out of it?
38:14 It is changed as clay under the seal, And stands forth as a garment.
38:15 From the wicked, their light is withheld, The high arm is broken.
38:16 "Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
38:17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
38:18 Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if you know it all.
38:19 "What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is the place of it,
38:20 That you should take it to the bound of it, That you should discern the paths to the house of it?
38:21 Surely you know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!
38:22 Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, Or have you seen the treasures of the hail,
38:23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war?
38:24 By what way is the lightning distributed, Or the east wind scattered on the earth?
38:25 Who has cut a channel for the flood water, Or the path for the thunderstorm;
38:26 To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, in which there is no man;
38:27 To satisfy the waste and desolate ground, To cause the tender grass to spring forth?
38:28 Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?
38:29 Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it?
38:30 The waters become hard like stone, When the surface of the deep is frozen.
38:31 "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loosen the cords of Orion?
38:32 Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
38:33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish the dominion of it over the earth?
38:34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you?
38:35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?'
38:36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
38:37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky,
38:38 When the dust runs into a mass, And the clods of earth stick together?
38:39 "Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
38:40 When they crouch in their dens, And lie in wait in the thicket?
38:41 Who provides for the raven his prey, When his young ones cry to God, And wander for lack of food?