Job 38

Revised Geneva Translation

38 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

² “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

³ “Now gird up your loins, like a man. I will demand of you, and you declare to Me.

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth? Declare, if you have understanding.

⁵ “Who has laid its measures, if you know. Or who has stretched the line over it.

⁶ “Upon what are its foundations set. Or who laid its cornerstone

⁷ “when the stars of the morning praised together, and all the children of God rejoiced?

⁸ “Or who has shut up the sea with doors, when it issued and came forth as out of the womb,

⁹ “when I made the clouds as its covering, and darkness as its swaddling bands,

¹⁰ “when I established My Commandment upon it, and set bars and doors,

¹¹ “and said, ‘To here shall you come, but no further. And here shall it stop your proud waves’?

¹² “Have you ever commanded the morning in all your life? Have you caused the morning to know its place,

¹³ “so that it might take hold of the corners of the Earth, and so that the wicked might be shaken out of it?

¹⁴ “It is turned, as clay under a seal. And all stand up as a garment.

¹⁵ “And their light shall be withheld from the wicked, and the raised arm shall be broken.

¹⁶ “Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked to seek out the depths?

¹⁷ “Have the gates of death been opened to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

¹⁸ “Have you perceived the breadth of the Earth? Tell if you know all this.

¹⁹ “Where is the way where light dwells? And where is the place of darkness,

²⁰ “so that you should receive it in its bounds, and so that you should know the paths to its house?

²¹ “Did you know it because you were alive then, and the number of your days is great?

²² “Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? Or have you seen the treasures of the hail

²³ “which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle?

²⁴ “By what way is the light parted which scatters the East wind upon the Earth?

²⁵ “Who has divided the spouts for the rain, or the way for the lightning of the thunders,

²⁶ “to cause it to rain on the Earth where no man is, and in the wilderness where there is no man,

²⁷ “to satisfy the wild and waste place, and to cause the bud of the herb to spring forth?

²⁸ “Who is the father of the rain? Or who has begotten the drops of the dew?

²⁹ “Out of whose womb came the ice? Who has borne the frost of the heaven?

³⁰ “The waters are hidden as a stone, and the face of the depth is frozen.

³¹ “Can you restrain the sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

³² “Can you bring forth Mazzaroth in their time? Can you also guide Arcturus with his sons?

³³ “Do you know the course of heaven, or can you set its rule on the Earth?

³⁴ “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that the abundance of water may cover you?

³⁵ “Can you send the lightning so that it may walk, and say to you, ‘Lo, here we are’?

³⁶ “Who has put wisdom in the core? Or who has given the heart understanding?

³⁷ “Who can number clouds by wisdom? Or who can cause the bottles of heaven to cease

³⁸ “when the Earth grows into hardness, and the clots hold together?”