Job 38 – read and compare multiple versions
Job 38
[1] Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,
[2] “Who is this who darkens counsel
by words without knowledge?
[3] Brace yourself like a man,
for I will question you, then you answer me! [4] “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, if you have understanding.
[5] Who determined its measures, if you know?
Or who stretched the line on it?
[6] What were its foundations fastened on?
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 out of the womb,
[9] when I made clouds its garment,
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
[10] marked out for it my bound,
set bars and doors,
[11] and said, ‘You may come here, but no further.
Your proud waves shall be stopped here’? [12] “Have you commanded the morning in your days,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
[13] that it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
and shake the wicked out of it?
[14] It is changed as clay under the seal,
and presented as a garment.
[15] From the wicked, their light is withheld.
The high arm is broken. [16] “Have you entered into 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 the shadow of death?
[18] Have you comprehended the earth in its width?
Declare, if you know it all. [19] “What is the way to the dwelling of light?
As for darkness, where is its place,
[20] that you should take it to its bound,
that you should discern the paths to its house?
[21] Surely you know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!
[22] Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses 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 lightning distributed,
or the east wind scattered on the earth? [25] Who has cut a channel for the flood water,
or the path for the thunderstorm,
[26] to cause it to rain on a land where there is no man,
on the wilderness, in which there is no man,
[27] to satisfy the waste and desolate ground,
to cause the tender grass to grow?
[28] Does the rain have a father?
Or who fathers the drops of dew?
[29] Whose womb did the ice come out of?
Who has given birth to the gray frost of the sky?
[30] The waters become hard like stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen. [31] “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
or loosen the cords of Orion?
[32] Can you lead the constellations out in their season?
Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
[33] Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you establish its dominion over the earth? [34] “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
that abundance of waters may cover you?
[35] Can you send out lightnings, that they may go?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
[36] Who has put wisdom in the inward parts?
Or who has given understanding to the mind?
[37] Who can count the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can pour out the containers of the sky,
[38] when the dust runs into a mass,
and the clods of earth stick together? [39] “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
[40] when they crouch in their dens,
and lie in wait in the thicket?
[41] Who provides for the raven his prey,
when his young ones cry to God,
and wander for lack of food?
[2] “Who is this who darkens counsel
by words without knowledge?
[3] Brace yourself like a man,
for I will question you, then you answer me! [4] “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, if you have understanding.
[5] Who determined its measures, if you know?
Or who stretched the line on it?
[6] What were its foundations fastened on?
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 out of the womb,
[9] when I made clouds its garment,
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
[10] marked out for it my bound,
set bars and doors,
[11] and said, ‘You may come here, but no further.
Your proud waves shall be stopped here’? [12] “Have you commanded the morning in your days,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
[13] that it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
and shake the wicked out of it?
[14] It is changed as clay under the seal,
and presented as a garment.
[15] From the wicked, their light is withheld.
The high arm is broken. [16] “Have you entered into 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 the shadow of death?
[18] Have you comprehended the earth in its width?
Declare, if you know it all. [19] “What is the way to the dwelling of light?
As for darkness, where is its place,
[20] that you should take it to its bound,
that you should discern the paths to its house?
[21] Surely you know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!
[22] Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses 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 lightning distributed,
or the east wind scattered on the earth? [25] Who has cut a channel for the flood water,
or the path for the thunderstorm,
[26] to cause it to rain on a land where there is no man,
on the wilderness, in which there is no man,
[27] to satisfy the waste and desolate ground,
to cause the tender grass to grow?
[28] Does the rain have a father?
Or who fathers the drops of dew?
[29] Whose womb did the ice come out of?
Who has given birth to the gray frost of the sky?
[30] The waters become hard like stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen. [31] “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
or loosen the cords of Orion?
[32] Can you lead the constellations out in their season?
Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
[33] Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you establish its dominion over the earth? [34] “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
that abundance of waters may cover you?
[35] Can you send out lightnings, that they may go?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
[36] Who has put wisdom in the inward parts?
Or who has given understanding to the mind?
[37] Who can count the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can pour out the containers of the sky,
[38] when the dust runs into a mass,
and the clods of earth stick together? [39] “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
[40] when they crouch in their dens,
and lie in wait in the thicket?
[41] Who provides for the raven his prey,
when his young ones cry to God,
and wander for lack of food?