| Chapter 38
|
| 1 | Then the LORD
answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, |
| 2 | Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without
knowledge? |
| 3 | Gird up now
thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. |
| 4 | Where wast thou when I laid the
foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. |
| 5 | Who hath laid the measures thereof, if
thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? |
| 6 | Whereupon are the foundations thereof
fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; |
|
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 brake forth, as if it had issued out
of the womb? |
| 9 | When I
made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for
it, |
| 10 | And brake up for
it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, |
| 11 | And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and
here shall thy proud waves be stayed? |
| 12 | Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and
caused the dayspring to know his place; |
| 13 | That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that
the wicked might be shaken out of it? |
| 14 | It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a
garment. |
| 15 | And from the
wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken. |
| 16 | Hast thou entered into the
springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? |
| 17 | Have the gates of death been
opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? |
| 18 | Hast thou perceived the
breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. |
| 19 | Where is the way where light dwelleth?
and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, |
|
20 | That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,
and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? |
| 21 | Knowest thou it, because thou wast
then born? or because the number of thy days is great? |
| 22 | Hast thou entered into the treasures
of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures 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 light parted, which scattereth
the east wind upon the earth? |
| 25
| Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way
for the lightning of thunder; |
| 26
| To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness,
wherein there is no man; |
| 27 |
To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the
tender herb to spring forth? |
| 28
| Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew? |
| 29 | Out of whose womb came
the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? |
| 30 | The waters are hid as with a stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen. |
|
31 | Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the
bands of Orion? |
| 32 | Canst
thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his
sons? |
| 33 | Knowest thou
the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? |
| 34 | Canst thou lift up thy
voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? |
| 35 | Canst thou send lightnings, that they
may go and say unto thee, Here we are? |
| 36 | Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath
given understanding to the heart? |
|
37 | Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles
of heaven, |
| 38 | When the
dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? |
| 39 | Wilt thou hunt the prey for the
lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, |
|
40 | When they couch in their dens, and abide in the
covert to lie in wait? |
| 41 |
Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God,
they wander for lack of meat. |
