Job 38 - ESV Bible - Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind...

1 Then the LORD ¹answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

2 "Who is this that ²darkens counsel by words ³without knowledge?

3 ⁴Dress for action^a like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.

4 "Where were you when I ⁵laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

5 Who determined its measurements--surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,

7 when the morning stars ⁶sang together and all ⁷the sons of God ⁸shouted for joy?

8 "Or who ⁹shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb,

9 when I made clouds its garment and ¹⁰thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 and prescribed ¹¹limits for it and set bars and doors,

11 and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your ¹²proud waves be stayed'?

12 "Have you ¹³commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,

13 that it might take hold of ¹⁴the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be ¹⁵shaken out of it?

14 It is changed like clay under the seal, and its features stand out like a garment.

15 From the wicked their ¹⁶light is withheld, and ¹⁷their uplifted arm is broken.

16 "Have you ¹⁸entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have ¹⁹the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of ²⁰deep darkness?

18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.

19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,

20 that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern ²¹the paths to its home?

21 You know, for ²²you were born then, and the number of your days is great!

22 "Have you entered ²³the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen ²⁴the storehouses of the hail,

23 which I have reserved ²⁵for the time of trouble, ²⁶for the day of battle and war?

24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

25 "Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and ²⁷a way for the thunderbolt,

26 to bring rain on ²⁸a land where no man is, on ²⁹the desert in which there is no man,

27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with ³⁰grass?

28 "Has ³¹the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 From whose womb did ³²the ice come forth, and who has given birth to ³³the frost of heaven?

30 The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is ³⁴frozen.

31 "Can you bind the chains of ³⁵the Pleiades or loose the cords of ³⁶Orion?

32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth^b in their season, or can you guide ³⁷the Bear with its children?

33 Do you know ³⁸the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that ³⁹a flood of waters may cover you?

35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'?

36 Who has ⁴⁰put wisdom in ⁴¹the inward parts^c or given understanding to the mind?^d

37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

38 when the dust runs into a mass and ⁴²the clods stick fast together?

39 "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or ⁴³satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 when they crouch in their ⁴⁴dens or lie in wait ⁴⁵in their thicket?

41 Who provides for ⁴⁶the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?

Job 38 ESV