| Chapter 38 |
1 |
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, |
2 |
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? |
3 |
Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. |
4 |
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. |
5 |
Who hath laid the measures of it, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? |
6 |
Upon what are the foundations of it fastened? or who laid its corner stone; |
7 |
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? |
8 |
Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? |
9 |
When I made a cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, |
10 |
And broke up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, |
11 |
And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed. |
12 |
Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the day-spring to know its place; |
13 |
That it might take hold of the ends of earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? |
14 |
It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment. |
15 |
And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the high arm shall be broken. |
16 |
Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? |
17 |
Have the gates of death been opened to thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shades of death? |
18 |
Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. |
19 |
Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is its place, |
20 |
That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths to its house? |
21 |
Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? |
22 |
Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, |
23 |
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? |
24 |
By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth? |
25 |
Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; |
26 |
To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness in which there is no man; |
27 |
To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? |
28 |
Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of the dew? |
29 |
Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? |
30 |
The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. |
31 |
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? |
32 |
Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in its season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with its sons? |
33 |
Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set its dominion on the earth? |
34 |
Canst thou lift thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? |
35 |
Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say to thee, Here we are? |
36 |
Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart? |
37 |
Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, |
38 |
When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? |