Chapter 38

  And Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,  

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  Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?  

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  Gird up now thy loins like a man; and I will demand of thee, and inform thou me.  

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  Where wast thou when I founded the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.  

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  Who set the measures thereof -- if thou knowest? or who stretched a line upon it?  

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  Whereupon were the foundations thereof sunken? or who laid its corner-stone,  

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  When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?  

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  And who shut up the sea with doors, when it burst forth, issuing out of the womb?  

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  When I made the cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it;  

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  When I cut out for it my boundary, and set bars and doors,  

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  And said, Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?  

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  Hast thou since thy days commanded the morning? hast thou caused the dawn to know its place,  

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  That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked might be shaken out of it?  

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  It is changed like the signet-clay; and [all things] stand forth as in a garment:  

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  And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the uplifted arm is broken.  

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  Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? and hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?  

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  Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? and hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?  

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  Hath thine understanding compassed the breadths of the earth? Declare if thou knowest it all.  

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  Where is the way to where light dwelleth? and the darkness, where is its place,  

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  That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths to its house?  

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  Thou knowest, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!  

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  Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, and hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,  

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  Which I have reserved for the time of distress, for the day of battle and war?  

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  By what way is the light parted, [and] the east wind scattered upon the earth?  

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  Who hath divided a channel for the rain-flood, and a way for the thunder's flash;  

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  To cause it to rain on the earth, where no one is; on the wilderness wherein there is not a man;  

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  To satisfy the desolate and waste [ground], and to cause the sprout of the grass to spring forth?  

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  Hath the rain a father? or who begetteth the drops of dew?  

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  Out of whose womb cometh the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who bringeth it forth?  

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  When the waters lie hidden as in stone, and the face of the deep holdeth fast together.  

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  Canst thou fasten the bands of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?  

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  Dost thou bring forth the constellations each in its season? or dost thou guide the Bear with her sons?  

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  Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? dost thou determine their rule over the earth?  

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  Dost thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that floods of waters may cover thee?  

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  Dost thou send forth lightnings that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?  

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  Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the mind?  

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  Who numbereth the clouds with wisdom? or who poureth out the bottles of the heavens,  

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  When the dust runneth as into a molten mass, and the clods cleave fast together?  

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  Dost thou hunt the prey for the lioness, and dost thou satisfy the appetite of the young lions,  

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  When they crouch in [their] dens, [and] abide in the thicket to lie in wait?  

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  Who provideth for the raven his food, when his young ones cry unto ùGod, [and] they wander for lack of meat?  

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