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Job 38-39
Easy-to-Read Version
Job 38-39
Easy-to-Read Version
God Speaks to Job
38 Then the Lord spoke to Job from a whirlwind and said,
2 “Who is this ignorant person
saying these foolish things?[a]
3 Prepare yourself for an attack!
Get ready to answer the questions I will ask you.
4 “Where were you when I made the earth?
If you are so smart, answer me.
5 And who decided how big the earth should be?
Who measured it with a measuring line?
6 What is the earth resting on?
Who put the first stone in its place
7 when the morning stars sang together
and the angels[b] shouted with joy?
8 “Who closed the flood gates
as the sea gushed from the womb?
9 Who covered it with clouds
and wrapped it in darkness?
10 I set the limits for the sea
and put it behind locked gates.
11 I said to the sea, ‘You can come this far, but no farther.
This is where your proud waves will stop.’
12 “Did you ever in your life command the morning to begin
or the day to dawn?
13 Did you ever tell the morning light to grab the earth
and shake those who are evil out of their hiding places?
14 The morning light makes the hills
and valleys easy to see.
When the daylight comes to the earth,
the shapes of these places stand out like the folds of a coat.
They take shape like soft clay
that is pressed with a stamp.
15 Evil people don’t like the daylight.
When it shines bright, it keeps them from doing the bad things they do.
16 “Have you ever gone to the deepest parts of the sea?
Have you ever walked on the ocean bottom?
17 Has anyone shown you the gates to the world of the dead?
Have you ever seen those gates that lead to the dark place of death?
18 Do you really understand how big the earth is?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “Where does light come from?
Where does darkness come from?
20 Can you take them back to where they belong?
Do you know how to get there?
21 Surely you know these things, since you are so old and wise.
You were alive when I made them, weren’t you?[c]
22 “Have you ever gone into the storerooms
where I keep the snow and the hail?
23 I save them there for times of trouble,
for the times of war and battle.
24 Have you ever gone to the place where the sun comes up,
where it makes the east wind blow all over the earth?[d]
25 Who dug ditches in the sky for the heavy rain?
Who made a path for the thunderstorm?
26 Who makes it rain even in desert places
where no one lives?
27 The rain gives that dry empty land all the water it needs,
and grass begins to grow.
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who produces the drops of dew?
29 Does ice have a mother?
Who gives birth to the frost?
30 That’s when the water freezes as hard as a rock.
Even the deep sea freezes over!
31 “Can you tie up the Pleiades[e]?
Can you unfasten the belt of Orion[f]?
32 Can you bring out the other constellations[g] at the right times?
Can you lead out the Bear[h] with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws that control the sky?
Can you put each star in its place above the earth?[i]
34 “Can you shout at the clouds
and command them to cover you with rain?
35 Can you give a command to the lightning?
Will it come to you and say, ‘Here we are; what do you want, sir?’
Will it go wherever you want it to go?
36 “Who makes people wise?
Who puts wisdom deep inside them?
37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds
and tip them over to pour out their rain?
38 The rain makes the dust become mud,
and the clumps of dirt stick together.
39 “Do you find food for the lions?
Do you feed their hungry babies?
40 No, they hide in their caves
or wait in the grass, ready to attack their prey.
41 Who feeds the ravens when their babies cry out to God
and wander around without food?
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats are born?
Do you watch when the mother deer gives birth?
2 Do you know how many months they must carry their babies?
Do you know when it is the right time for them to be born?
3 These animals lie down, they feel their birth pains,
and their babies are born.
4 Their babies grow strong out in the wild.
Then they leave their mothers and never come back.
5 “Who let the wild donkeys go free?
Who untied their ropes and let them loose?
6 I let the wild donkey have the desert for a home.
I gave the salt lands to them for a place to live.
7 They are happy to be away from the noise of the city.
They never have to listen to their drivers shouting at them.
8 They live in the mountains.
That is their pasture.
That is where they look for food to eat.
9 “Will a wild bull agree to serve you?
Will he stay in your barn at night?
10 Will he let you put ropes on him
to plow your fields?
11 A wild bull is very strong,
but can you trust him to do your work?
12 Can you trust him to gather your grain
and bring it to your threshing place?
13 “An ostrich gets excited and flaps its wings, but it cannot fly.
Its wings and feathers are not like the wings of a stork.
14 An ostrich lays her eggs on the ground
and lets the sand keep them warm.
15 The ostrich forgets that someone might step on her eggs
or that a wild animal might break them.
16 An ostrich leaves her little babies.
She treats them as if they were not her own.
If her babies die, she does not care that all her work was for nothing.
17 That’s because I did not give wisdom to the ostrich.
She is foolish, and I made her that way.
18 But when the ostrich gets up to run, she laughs at the horse and its rider,
because she can run faster than any horse.
19 “Did you give the horse its strength?
Did you put the mane[j] on its neck?
20 Did you make it able to jump like a locust
or snort[k] so loudly that it scares people?
21 A horse is happy to be so strong.
It scratches the ground with its foot and runs into battle.
22 It laughs at fear; nothing makes it afraid!
It does not run away from battle.
23 The soldier’s quiver shakes on the horse’s side.
The spear and weapons its rider carries shine in the sun.
24 The horse gets very excited and races over the ground.[l]
When it hears the trumpet blow, it cannot stand still.
25 When the trumpet sounds, it snorts, ‘Hurray!’
It can smell the battle from far away
and hear the shouts of commanders with all the other sounds of battle.
26 “Did you teach the hawk how to spread its wings and fly south[m]?
27 Are you the one who told the eagle[n] to fly high into the sky?
Did you tell it to build its nest high in the mountains?
28 It lives high on a peak at the top of a cliff.
That is its fortress.
29 From there it looks far into the distance,
searching for its food.
30 The eagles gather around dead bodies,
and their young eat the blood.”
Footnotes
- Job 38:2 Or “Who is this person darkening advice with ignorant words.”
- Job 38:7 angels Literally, “sons of God.”
- Job 38:21 This is sarcasm—saying something in a way that everyone understands it is not really true.
- Job 38:24 Or “Where is the place that the fog disperses and the place where the east wind scatters it all over the earth?”
- Job 38:31 Pleiades A famous group of stars. It is often called, “The Seven Sisters.”
- Job 38:31 Orion A famous group of stars. It looks like a hunter or powerful soldier.
- Job 38:32 constellations Groups of stars in the night sky. Here, this probably means the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. They seem to pass through the sky so that a new constellation is in a certain part of the sky each month.
- Job 38:32 Bear A famous group of stars. It looks like a bear. It is often called, “the Big Dipper.” Near it is a smaller constellation that looks like a small bear. It is often called, “the Little Dipper.”
- Job 38:33 Can you … earth Or “Can you put it in charge over the earth?”
- Job 39:19 mane The hair on a horse’s neck.
- Job 39:20 snort The sound a horse makes by blowing air very hard through the nose.
- Job 39:24 races over the ground Literally, “swallows up the ground.”
- Job 39:26 south Or “to Teman.”
- Job 39:27 eagle Or “vulture.”
Job 38-39
New International Version
Job 38-39
New International Version
The Lord Speaks
38 Then the Lord spoke to Job(A) out of the storm.(B) He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans(C)
with words without knowledge?(D)
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.(E)
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?(F)
Tell me, if you understand.(G)
5 Who marked off its dimensions?(H) Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line(I) across it?
6 On what were its footings set,(J)
or who laid its cornerstone(K)—
7 while the morning stars(L) sang together(M)
and all the angels[a](N) shouted for joy?(O)
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors(P)
when it burst forth from the womb,(Q)
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,(R)
10 when I fixed limits for it(S)
and set its doors and bars in place,(T)
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;(U)
here is where your proud waves halt’?(V)
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,(W)
or shown the dawn its place,(X)
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked(Y) out of it?(Z)
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;(AA)
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,(AB)
and their upraised arm is broken.(AC)
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?(AD)
17 Have the gates of death(AE) been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?(AF)
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?(AG)
Tell me, if you know all this.(AH)
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?(AI)
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths(AJ) to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!(AK)
You have lived so many years!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow(AL)
or seen the storehouses(AM) of the hail,(AN)
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,(AO)
for days of war and battle?(AP)
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,(AQ)
or the place where the east winds(AR) are scattered over the earth?(AS)
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,(AT)
26 to water(AU) a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,(AV)
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?(AW)
28 Does the rain have a father?(AX)
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens(AY)
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?(AZ)
31 “Can you bind the chains[b] of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?(BA)
32 Can you bring forth the constellations(BB) in their seasons[c]
or lead out the Bear[d] with its cubs?(BC)
33 Do you know the laws(BD) of the heavens?(BE)
Can you set up God’s[e] dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?(BF)
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?(BG)
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdom[f](BH)
or gives the rooster understanding?[g](BI)
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars(BJ) of the heavens(BK)
38 when the dust becomes hard(BL)
and the clods of earth stick together?(BM)
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions(BN)
40 when they crouch in their dens(BO)
or lie in wait in a thicket?(BP)
41 Who provides food(BQ) for the raven(BR)
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?(BS)
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats(BT) give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?(BU)
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?(BV)
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey(BW) go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6 I gave it the wasteland(BX) as its home,
the salt flats(BY) as its habitat.(BZ)
7 It laughs(CA) at the commotion in the town;
it does not hear a driver’s shout.(CB)
8 It ranges the hills(CC) for its pasture
and searches for any green thing.
9 “Will the wild ox(CD) consent to serve you?(CE)
Will it stay by your manger(CF) at night?
10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?(CG)
Will it till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on it for its great strength?(CH)
Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
though they cannot compare
with the wings and feathers of the stork.(CI)
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.(CJ)
16 She treats her young harshly,(CK) as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.(CL)
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs(CM) at horse and rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength(CN)
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust,(CO)
striking terror(CP) with its proud snorting?(CQ)
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,(CR)
and charges into the fray.(CS)
22 It laughs(CT) at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver(CU) rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear(CV) and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.(CW)
25 At the blast of the trumpet(CX) it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.(CY)
26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?(CZ)
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?(DA)
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag(DB) is its stronghold.
29 From there it looks for food;(DC)
its eyes detect it from afar.
30 Its young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”(DD)
Footnotes
- Job 38:7 Hebrew the sons of God
- Job 38:31 Septuagint; Hebrew beauty
- Job 38:32 Or the morning star in its season
- Job 38:32 Or out Leo
- Job 38:33 Or their
- Job 38:36 That is, wisdom about the flooding of the Nile
- Job 38:36 That is, understanding of when to crow; the meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.