Job 38:1-41 AMP

[1] Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, [2] “Who is this that darkens counsel [questioning my authority and wisdom] By words without knowledge? [3] Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me! [4] Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you know and have understanding. [5] Who determined the measurements [of the earth], if you know? Or who stretched the [measuring] line on it? [6] On what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, [7] When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God (angels) shouted for joy? [8] “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When it burst forth and went out of the womb; [9] When I made the clouds its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, [10] And marked for it My [appointed] boundary And set bars and doors [defining the shorelines], [11] And said, ‘This far you shall come, but no farther; And here your proud waves shall stop’? [12] “Since your days began, have you ever commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place, [13] So that light may take hold of the corners of the earth And shake the wickedness out of it? [14] The earth is changed like clay into which a seal is pressed; And the things [of the earth] stand out like a [multi-colored] garment. [15] Their light is withheld from the wicked, And the uplifted arm is broken. [16] “Have you entered and explored the springs of the sea Or [have you] walked in the recesses of the deep? [17] Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? [18] Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. [19] “Where is the way where light dwells? And as for darkness, where is its place, [20] That you may take it to its territory And that you may know the paths to its house? [21] You [must] know, since you were born then, And because you are so extremely old! [22] Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, [23] Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war? [24] Where is the way that the light is distributed, Or the east wind scattered over the earth? [25] “Who has prepared a channel for the torrents of rain and for the flood, Or a path for the thunderbolt, [26] To bring rain on the uninhabited land, And on the desert where no man lives, [27] To satisfy the barren and desolate ground And to make the seeds of grass to sprout? [28] Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? [29] Out of whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth? [30] Water becomes like stone [and hides itself], And the surface of the deep is frozen and imprisoned. [31] “Can you bind the chains of [the cluster of stars called] Pleiades, Or loose the cords of [the constellation] Orion? [32] Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide [the stars of] the Bear with her sons? [33] Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or [can you] establish their rule over the earth? [34] “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you? [35] Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’? [36] Who has put wisdom in the innermost being [of man, or in the layers of clouds] Or given understanding to the mind [of man, or to the heavenly display]? [37] Who can count the clouds by [earthly] wisdom, Or pour out the water jars of the heavens, [38] When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together [because of the heat]? [39] “Can you [Job] hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions [40] When they crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair? [41] Who provides prey for the raven When its young cry to God And wander about without food?