38:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: ² 

38:2 “Who is this ³  who darkens counsel ⁴ 

with words without knowledge?

38:3 Get ready for a difficult task ⁵  like a man;

I will question you

and you will inform me!

38:4 “Where were you

when I laid the foundation ⁶  of the earth?

Tell me, ⁷  if you possess understanding!

38:5 Who set its measurements – if ⁸  you know –

or who stretched a measuring line across it?

38:6 On what ⁹  were its bases ¹⁰  set,

or who laid its cornerstone –

38:7 when the morning stars ¹¹  sang ¹²  in chorus, ¹³ 

and all the sons of God ¹⁴  shouted for joy?

38:8 “Who shut up ¹⁵  the sea with doors

when it burst forth, ¹⁶  coming out of the womb,

38:9 when I made ¹⁷  the storm clouds its garment,

and thick darkness its swaddling band, ¹⁸ 

38:10 when I prescribed ¹⁹  its limits,

and set ²⁰  in place its bolts and doors,

38:11 when I said, ‘To here you may come ²¹ 

and no farther, ²² 

here your proud waves will be confined’? ²³ 

38:12 Have you ever in your life ²⁴  commanded the morning,

or made the dawn know ²⁵  its place,

38:13 that it might seize the corners of the earth, ²⁶ 

and shake the wicked out of it?

38:14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; ²⁷ 

its features ²⁸  are dyed ²⁹  like a garment.

38:15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,

and the arm raised in violence ³⁰  is broken. ³¹ 

38:16 Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea, ³² 

or walked about in the recesses of the deep?

38:17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? ³³ 

Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness? ³⁴ 

38:18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth?

Tell me, if you know it all!

38:19 “In what direction ³⁵  does light reside,

and darkness, where is its place,

38:20 that you may take them to their borders

and perceive the pathways to their homes? ³⁶ 

38:21 You know, for you were born before them; ³⁷ 

and the number of your days is great!

38:22 Have you entered the storehouse ³⁸  of the snow,

or seen the armory ³⁹  of the hail,

38:23 which I reserve for the time of trouble,

for the day of war and battle? ⁴⁰ 

38:24 In what direction is lightning ⁴¹  dispersed,

or the east winds scattered over the earth?

38:25 Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains,

and a path for the rumble of thunder,

38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, ⁴² 

a desert where there are no human beings, ⁴³ 

38:27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,

and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? ⁴⁴ 

38:28 Does the rain have a father,

or who has fathered the drops of the dew?

38:29 From whose womb does the ice emerge,

and the frost from the sky, ⁴⁵  who gives birth to it,

38:30 when the waters become hard ⁴⁶  like stone,

when the surface of the deep is frozen solid?

38:31 Can you tie the bands ⁴⁷  of the Pleiades,

or release the cords of Orion?

38:32 Can you lead out

the constellations ⁴⁸  in their seasons,

or guide the Bear with its cubs? ⁴⁹ 

38:33 Do you know the laws of the heavens,

or can you set up their rule over the earth?

38:34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds

so that a flood of water covers you? ⁵⁰ 

38:35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go?

Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?

38:36 Who has put wisdom in the heart, ⁵¹ 

or has imparted understanding to the mind?

38:37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds,

and who can tip over ⁵²  the water jars of heaven,

38:38 when the dust hardens ⁵³  into a mass,

and the clumps of earth stick together?

38:39 “Do you hunt prey for the lioness,

and satisfy the appetite ⁵⁴  of the lions,

38:40 when they crouch in their dens,

when they wait in ambush in the thicket?

38:41 Who prepares prey for the raven,

when its young cry out to God

and wander about ⁵⁵  for lack of food?

39:1 “Are you acquainted with the way ⁵⁶ 

the mountain goats ⁵⁷  give birth?

Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?

39:2 Do you count the months they must fulfill,

and do you know the time they give birth? ⁵⁸ 

39:3 They crouch, they bear ⁵⁹  their young,

they bring forth the offspring they have carried. ⁶⁰ 

39:4 Their young grow strong, and grow up in the open; ⁶¹ 

they go off, and do not return to them.

39:5 Who let the wild donkey go free?

Who released the bonds of the donkey,

39:6 to whom I appointed the steppe for its home,

the salt wastes as its dwelling place?

39:7 It scorns the tumult in the town;

it does not hear the shouts of a driver. ⁶² 

39:8 It ranges the hills as its pasture,

and searches after every green plant.

39:9 Is the wild ox willing to be your servant?

Will it spend the night at your feeding trough?

39:10 Can you bind the wild ox ⁶³  to a furrow with its rope,

will it till the valleys, following after you?

39:11 Will you rely on it because its strength is great?

Will you commit ⁶⁴  your labor to it?

39:12 Can you count on ⁶⁵  it to bring in ⁶⁶  your grain, ⁶⁷ 

and gather the grain ⁶⁸  to your threshing floor? ⁶⁹ 

39:13 ⁷⁰ 

“The wings of the ostrich ⁷¹  flap with joy, ⁷² 

but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork? ⁷³ 

39:14 For she leaves ⁷⁴  her eggs on the ground,

and lets them be warmed on the soil.

39:15 She forgets that a foot might crush them,

or that a wild animal ⁷⁵  might trample them.

39:16 She is harsh ⁷⁶  with her young,

as if they were not hers;

she is unconcerned

about the uselessness of her labor.

39:17 For God deprived her of wisdom,

and did not impart understanding to her.

39:18 But as soon as she springs up, ⁷⁷ 

she laughs at the horse and its rider.

39:19 “Do you give the horse its strength?

Do you clothe its neck with a mane? ⁷⁸ 

39:20 Do you make it leap ⁷⁹  like a locust?

Its proud neighing ⁸⁰  is terrifying!

39:21 It ⁸¹  paws the ground in the valley, ⁸² 

exulting mightily, ⁸³ 

it goes out to meet the weapons.

39:22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

it does not shy away from the sword.

39:23 On it the quiver rattles;

the lance and javelin ⁸⁴  flash.

39:24 In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground; ⁸⁵ 

it cannot stand still ⁸⁶  when the trumpet is blown.

39:25 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.

39:26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, ⁸⁷ 

and spreads its wings toward the south?

39:27 Is it at your command ⁸⁸  that the eagle soars,

and builds its nest on high?

39:28 It lives on a rock and spends the night there,

on a rocky crag ⁸⁹  and a fortress. ⁹⁰ 

39:29 From there it spots ⁹¹  its prey, ⁹² 

its eyes gaze intently from a distance.

39:30 And its young ones devour the blood,

and where the dead carcasses ⁹³  are,

there it is.”