Job 38

1And Jehovah answereth Job out of the whirlwind, and saith: --

1And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,

2Who <FI>is<Fi> this--darkening counsel, By words without knowledge?

2Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge?

3Gird, I pray thee, as a man, thy loins, And I ask thee, and cause thou Me to know.

3Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.

4Where wast thou when I founded earth? Declare, if thou hast known understanding.

4Where were you when I put the earth on its base? Say, if you have knowledge.

5Who placed its measures--if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched out upon it a line?

5By whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom; or by whom was the line stretched out over it?

6On what have its sockets been sunk? Or who hath cast its corner-stone?

6On what were its pillars based, or who put down its angle-stone,

7In the singing together of stars of morning, And all sons of God shout for joy,

7When the morning stars made songs together, and all the sons of the gods gave cries of joy?

8And He shutteth up with doors the sea, In its coming forth, from the womb it goeth out.

8Or where were you when the sea came to birth, pushing out from its secret place;

9In My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band,

9When I made the cloud its robe, and put thick clouds as bands round it,

10And I measure over it My statute, And place bar and doors,

10Ordering a fixed limit for it, with locks and doors;

11And say, `Hitherto come thou, and add not, And a command is placed On the pride of thy billows.'

11And said, So far you may come, and no farther; and here the pride of your waves will be stopped?

12Hast thou commanded morning since thy days? Causest thou the dawn to know its place?

12Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;

13To take hold on the skirts of the earth, And the wicked are shaken out of it,

13So that it might take a grip of the skirts of the earth, shaking all the evil-doers out of it?

14It turneth itself as clay of a seal And they station themselves as clothed.

14It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;

15And withheld from the wicked is their light, And the arm lifted up is broken.

15And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.

16Hast thou come in to springs of the sea? And in searching the deep Hast thou walked up and down?

16Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places of the deep?

17Revealed to thee were the gates of death? And the gates of death-shade dost thou see?

17Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?

18Thou hast understanding, Even unto the broad places of earth! Declare--if thou hast known it all.

18Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.

19Where <FI>is<Fi> this--the way light dwelleth? And darkness, where <FI>is<Fi> this--its place?

19Which is the way to the resting-place of the light, and where is the store-house of the dark;

20That thou dost take it unto its boundary, And that thou dost understand The paths of its house.

20So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house?

21Thou hast known--for then thou art born And the number of thy days <FI>are<Fi> many!

21No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.

22Hast thou come in unto the treasure of snow? Yea, the treasures of hail dost thou see?

22Have you come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,

23That I have kept back for a time of distress, For a day of conflict and battle.

23Which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and fighting?

24Where <FI>is<Fi> this, the way light is apportioned? It scattereth an east wind over the earth.

24Which is the way to the place where the wind is measured out, and the east wind sent out over the earth?

25Who hath divided for the flood a conduit? And a way for the lightning of the voices?

25By whom has the way been cut for the flowing of the rain, and the flaming of the thunder;

26To cause <FI>it<Fi> to rain on a land--no man, A wilderness--no man in it.

26Causing rain to come on a land where no man is living, on the waste land which has no people;

27To satisfy a desolate and waste place, And to cause to shoot up The produce of the tender grass?

27To give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass?

28Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

28Has the rain a father? or who gave birth to the drops of night mist?

29From whose belly came forth the ice? And the hoar-frost of the heavens, Who hath begotten it?

29Out of whose body came the ice? and who gave birth to the cold mist of heaven?

30As a stone waters are hidden, And the face of the deep is captured.

30The waters are joined together, hard as a stone, and the face of the deep is covered.

31Dost thou bind sweet influences of Kimah? Or the attractions of Kesil dost thou open?

31Are the bands of the Pleiades fixed by you, or are the cords of Orion made loose?

32Dost thou bring out Mazzaroth in its season? And Aysh for her sons dost thou comfort?

32Do you make Mazzaroth come out in its right time, or are the Bear and its children guided by you?

33Hast thou known the statutes of heaven? Or dost thou appoint Its dominion in the earth?

33Have you knowledge of the laws of the heavens? did you give them rule over the earth?

34Dost thou lift up to the cloud thy voice, And abundance of water doth cover thee?

34Is your voice sent up to the cloud, so that you may be covered by the weight of waters?

35Dost thou send out lightnings, and they go And say unto thee, `Behold us?'

35Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?

36Who hath put in the inward parts wisdom? Or who hath given To the covered part understanding?

36Who has put wisdom in the high clouds, or given knowledge to the lights of the north?

37Who doth number the clouds by wisdom? And the bottles of the heavens, Who doth cause to lie down,

37By whose wisdom are the clouds numbered, or the water-skins of the heavens turned to the earth,

38In the hardening of dust into hardness, And clods cleave together?

38When the earth becomes hard as metal, and is joined together in masses?

39Dost thou hunt for a lion prey? And the desire of young lions fulfil?

39Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,

40When they bow down in dens--Abide in a thicket for a covert?

40When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood?

41Who doth prepare for a raven his provision, When his young ones cry unto God? They wander without food.

41Who gives in the evening the meat he is searching for, when his young ones are crying to God; when the young lions with loud noise go wandering after their food?