Job 38 — The Holy Bible

The Lord Speaks to Job

Job 38, verse 1. After Elihu had ceased from speaking, then the Lord spoke to Job out of the whirlwind and clouds, saying:

“Who is this who hides counsel from Me,

And holds words in his heart

And thinks to conceal them from Me?

Gird your waist like a man;

I will question you, and you shall answer Me.

The Majestic Creator

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell Me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its measurements? Surely you know.

Or who stretched the line upon it?

To what were its foundations fastened,

Or who laid its cornerstone,

When the stars were made

And all My angels praised Me in a loud voice?

“I shut up the sea with doors

When it burst forth and issued from the womb.

I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in mist.

I fixed My limit for it and set bars and doors.

I said, ‘This far you may come, but no further,

And here your waves must stop.’

“Did I order the morning light in your time,

And did the morning star see its appointed place,

To lay hold of the ends of the earth

And to shake the ungodly out of it?

Or did you take clay of the ground and form a living creature,

And set it with the power of speech upon the earth?

Have you removed light from the ungodly

And crushed the arm of the arrogant?

“Have you come upon the fountain of the sea

And walked in the tracks of the deep?

Do the gates of death open to you for fear,

And did the doorkeepers of Hades quake when they saw you?

Have you been instructed in the breadth of the earth under heaven?

Tell Me now, what is the extent of it?

“In what kind of land does the light dwell,

And what kind is the place of darkness?

If you would bring Me to their boundaries,

And also if you understand their paths,

Then I know you were born at that time,

And the number of your years is great.

“Have you come upon the storehouses of snow?

Have you seen the storehouses of hail?

Are they stored for you against the time of your enemies,

For the day of wars and battles?

From where does the frost proceed?

From where does the south wind scatter over the earth?

“Who prepared a course for the violent rain

Or a path for the thunders?

Who causes it to rain on a land where there is no man,

Or an uninhabited wilderness, where there is not a man in it,

To satisfy the untrodden and uninhabited land

And cause it to spring forth a crop of tender grass?

Who is the rain's father,

And who has begotten the drops of dew?

From whose womb comes the ice,

And who has given birth to the frost in heaven,

Which descends like flowing water?

Who made firm the face of the abyss?

“Do you understand the band of the Pleiades,

And have you opened the fence of Orion?

Will you open up Mazzaroth in its season,

And the evening star with his rays?

Will you guide them?

Do you know the movements of heaven

Or the events which take place together under heaven?

“Will you call a cloud with your voice,

And will it obey you with a violent shower of much rain?

Can you send out lightnings, and they shall go?

They shall say to you, ‘What do you want?’

Who has given to women wisdom in weaving

Or knowledge of embroidery?

Who can number the clouds by wisdom,

And who bowed heaven down to earth?

For it is spread like a cloud of dust,

And I have joined it together as one hewn stone to another.

“Will you hunt prey for the lions

Or satisfy the lives of the serpents?

They fear in their dens,

And live in the forests, and lie in wait.

Who provides food for the raven?

For its young ones wander

And cry to the Lord in search of food.