Job 38:1-41 AMPC

[1] Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, [2] Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? [3] Gird up now your loins like a man, and I will demand of you, and you declare to Me. [4] Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare to Me, if you have and know understanding. [5] Who determined the measures of the earth, if you know? Or who stretched the measuring line upon it? [6] Upon what were the foundations of it fastened, or who laid its cornerstone, [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 and issued out of the womb?- [9] When I made the clouds the garment of it, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, [10] And marked for it My appointed boundary and set bars and doors, [11] And said, Thus far shall you come and no farther; and here shall your proud waves be stayed? [12] Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place, [13] So that [light] may get hold of the corners of the earth and shake the wickedness [of night] out of it? [14] It is changed like clay into which a seal is pressed; and things stand out like a many-colored garment. [15] From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken. [16] Have you 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 doors of deep darkness? [18] Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know it all. [19] Where is the way where light dwells? And as for darkness, where is its abode, [20] That you may conduct it to its home, and may know the paths to its house? [21] You must know, since you were born then! Or because you are so extremely old! [22] Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you seen the treasuries of the hail, [23] Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? [24] By what way is the light distributed, or the east wind spread over the earth? [25] Who has prepared a channel for the torrents of rain, or a path for the thunderbolt, [26] To cause it to rain on the uninhabited land [and] on the desert where no man lives, [27] To satisfy the waste and desolate ground and to cause the tender grass to spring forth? [28] Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? [29] Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who has given it birth? [30] The waters are congealed like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. [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 the signs of the zodiac in their season? Or can you guide [the stars of] the Bear with her young? [33] Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule upon the earth? [34] Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an abundance of waters may cover you? [35] Can you send lightnings, that they may go and say to you, Here we are? [36] Who has put wisdom in the inward parts [or in the dark clouds]? Or who has given understanding to the mind [or to the meteor]? [37] Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the [water] bottles of the heavens [38] When [heat has caused] the dust to run into a mass and the clods to cleave fast together? [39] Can you [Job] hunt the prey for the lion? Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions [40] When they couch in their dens or lie in wait in their hiding place? [41] Who provides for the raven its prey when its young ones cry to God and wander about for lack of food?