Job 38:4-Job 40:2 - Yahweh Interrogates Job

⁴ "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding! ⁵ Who set its measurements -- if you know -- or who stretched a measuring line across it? ⁶ On what were its bases set, or who laid its cornerstone -- ⁷ when the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸ "Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst forth, coming out of the womb, ⁹ when I made the storm clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, ¹⁰ when I prescribed its limits, and set in place its bolts and doors, ¹¹ when I said, 'To here you may come and no farther, here your proud waves will be confined'?

¹² Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, or made the dawn know its place, ¹³ that it might seize the corners of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it? ¹⁴ The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features are dyed like a garment. ¹⁵ Then from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm raised in violence is broken.

¹⁶ Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea, or walked about in the recesses of the deep? ¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness? ¹⁸ Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know it all!

¹⁹ "In what direction does light reside, and darkness, where is its place, ²⁰ that you may take them to their borders and perceive the pathways to their homes? ²¹ You know, for you were born before them; and the number of your days is great! ²² Have you entered the storehouse of the snow, or seen the armory of the hail, ²³ which I reserve for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle? ²⁴ In what direction is lightning dispersed, or the east winds scattered over the earth?

²⁵ Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains, and a path for the rumble of thunder, ²⁶ to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, a desert where there are no human beings, ²⁷ to satisfy a devastated and desolate land, and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? ²⁸ Does the rain have a father, or who has fathered the drops of the dew? ²⁹ From whose womb does the ice emerge, and the frost from the sky, who gives birth to it, ³⁰ when the waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen solid?

³¹ Can you tie the bands of the Pleiades, or release the cords of Orion? ³² Can you lead out the constellations in their seasons, or guide the Bear with its cubs? ³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens, or can you set up their rule over the earth? ³⁴ Can you raise your voice to the clouds so that a flood of water covers you? ³⁵ Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go? Will they say to you, 'Here we are'?

³⁶ Who has put wisdom in the heart, or has imparted understanding to the mind? ³⁷ Who by wisdom can count the clouds, and who can tip over the water jars of heaven, ³⁸ when the dust hardens into a mass, and the clumps of earth stick together?

³⁹ "Do you hunt prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of the lions, ⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens, when they wait in ambush in the thicket? ⁴¹ Who prepares prey for the raven, when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?

¹ "Are you acquainted with the way the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young? ² Do you count the months they must fulfill, and do you know the time they give birth? ³ They crouch, they bear their young, they bring forth the offspring they have carried. ⁴ Their young grow strong, and grow up in the open; they go off, and do not return to them.

⁵ Who let the wild donkey go free? Who released the bonds of the donkey, ⁶ to whom I appointed the steppe for its home, the salt wastes as its dwelling place? ⁷ It scorns the tumult in the town; it does not hear the shouts of a driver. ⁸ It ranges the hills as its pasture, and searches after every green plant. ⁹ Is the wild ox willing to be your servant? Will it spend the night at your feeding trough? ¹⁰ Can you bind the wild ox to a furrow with its rope, will it till the valleys, following after you? ¹¹ Will you rely on it because its strength is great? Will you commit your labor to it? ¹² Can you count on it to bring in your grain, and gather the grain to your threshing floor?

¹³ "The wings of the ostrich flap with joy, but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork? ¹⁴ For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and lets them be warmed on the soil. ¹⁵ She forgets that a foot might crush them, or that a wild animal might trample them. ¹⁶ She is harsh with her young, as if they were not hers; she is unconcerned about the uselessness of her labor. ¹⁷ For God deprived her of wisdom, and did not impart understanding to her. ¹⁸ But as soon as she springs up, she laughs at the horse and its rider.

¹⁹ "Do you give the horse its strength? Do you clothe its neck with a mane? ²⁰ Do you make it leap like a locust? Its proud neighing is terrifying! ²¹ It paws the ground in the valley, exulting mightily, it goes out to meet the weapons. ²² It laughs at fear and is not dismayed; it does not shy away from the sword. ²³ On it the quiver rattles; the lance and javelin flash. ²⁴ In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet is blown. ²⁵ At the sound of the trumpet, it says, 'Aha!' And from a distance it catches the scent of battle, the thunderous shouting of commanders, and the battle cries.

²⁶ "Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south? ²⁷ Is it at your command that the eagle soars, and builds its nest on high? ²⁸ It lives on a rock and spends the night there, on a rocky crag and a fortress. ²⁹ From there it spots its prey, its eyes gaze intently from a distance. ³⁰ And its young ones devour the blood, and where the dead carcasses are, there it is."

¹ Then the Lord answered Job: ² "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!"