The Lord Answers Job

38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the strong wind and said, ² “Who is this that makes words of wisdom dark by speaking without much learning? ³ Now get ready like a man, and I will ask you some questions and you answer Me. ⁴ Where were you when I began building the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. ⁵ Who decided how big it was to be, since you know? Who looked to see if it was as big as it should be? ⁶ What was it built upon? Who laid its first stone, ⁷ when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God called out for joy?

⁸ “Who shut up the sea with doors, when it rushed out from its secret place? ⁹ I made clouds its clothing, and put much darkness around it. ¹⁰ I marked the places where it could not pass, and set locks and doors. ¹¹ And I said, ‘You will come this far, and no farther. Here will your proud waves stop.’

¹² “Have you ever in your life told the morning when to come, and caused the first light of day to know its place, ¹³ that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the sinful be shaken out of it? ¹⁴ It is changed like clay when an object is pushed down to mark it, and they stand out like clothing. ¹⁵ The light of the sinful is held back, and the arm lifted up is broken.

¹⁶ “Have you gone into the wells of the sea? Have you walked on the bottom of the deep sea? ¹⁷ Have the gates of death been shown to you? Or have you seen the gates of the deep darkness? ¹⁸ Have you understood how great the earth is? Tell Me, if you know all this.

¹⁹ “Where does the light come from? And where is the place of darkness, ²⁰ that you may take it to its land, and know the paths to its home? ²¹ You know, for you were born then. You are very old! ²² Have you gone into the store-houses of the snow? Have you seen the store-houses of the hail, ²³ which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle? ²⁴ What is the way to the place where the light is divided, or the east wind spread over the earth?

²⁵ “Who has cut open a way for the flood, and a path for the thunderstorm? ²⁶ Who brings rain on the land without people, on a desert without a man in it, ²⁷ to fill the need of the wasted land, and to make the grass grow? ²⁸ Does the rain have a father? Who has given birth to the drops of rain? ²⁹ Who gave birth to ice? And who gave birth to the snow water of heaven? ³⁰ Water becomes hard like stone, and the top of the sea is covered with ice.

³¹ “Can you tie the chains of the stars of Pleiades, or loose the ropes of Orion? ³² Can you lead the groups of stars out at the right times? Can you lead the stars of the Bear with her young? ³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you make them to rule over the earth?

³⁴ “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of water may cover you? ³⁵ Can you send out lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’? ³⁶ Who has given wisdom to the heart? Who has given understanding to the mind? ³⁷ Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can push over the water jars of the heavens, ³⁸ when the dust gathers together and becomes hard?

³⁹ “Can you hunt food for the lion? Can you fill the hunger of the young lions, ⁴⁰ when they lie in their own place in the rock, or wait in their hiding place? ⁴¹ Who gets the food ready for the raven, when its young cry to God and go about without food?

The Lord Is Speaking to Job

39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch the deer giving birth? ² Can you number the months that they carry their young? Or do you know the time when their young are born? ³ They get down and give birth to their young, and get rid of their pains. ⁴ Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They leave and do not return to them.

⁵ “Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has taken off the ropes which held the fast donkey? ⁶ I gave him the desert for a home, and the salt land for a place to live. ⁷ He hates the noise of the city. He does not hear the calls of the man who drives him. ⁸ He goes looking for grass to eat on the mountains. He looks for every green thing. ⁹ Will the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will he stay through the night by the food you give him to eat? ¹⁰ Can you tie the wild ox to a plow in the field? Will he follow you to plow the valleys? ¹¹ Will you trust in him because he is very strong, and leave your work to him? ¹² Will you trust him to return and bring your grain to your grain-floor?

¹³ “The wings of the ostrich wave with joy, but are they the wings of love? ¹⁴ For she leaves her eggs to the earth and lets them get warm in the dust. ¹⁵ She forgets that a foot might crush them, or that the wild animal may step on them. ¹⁶ She is bad in the way she acts toward her young, as if they were not hers. Her work of giving birth is for nothing, for she does not care. ¹⁷ Because God has not given her wisdom or her share of understanding. ¹⁸ When she begins to run, she laughs at the horse and the horseman.

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse his strength? Do you dress his neck with long hair? ²⁰ Do you make him jump like the locust? The powerful noise he makes with his nostrils fills men with fear. ²¹ He hits his foot against the ground in the valley, and has joy in his strength. He goes out to meet the battle. ²² He laughs at fear and is not afraid. He does not turn back from the sword. ²³ The arrows and spears he carries make noise as they hit together. ²⁴ He runs fast over the ground with shaking and anger. He cannot stand still at the sound of the horn. ²⁵ When the horn sounds, he laughs without fear. He smells the battle from far away. He hears the thunder of the captains, and the war cry.

²⁶ “Is it by your understanding that the hawk flies, spreading his wings toward the south? ²⁷ Is it because the eagle is obeying you that he flies high and makes his nest in a high place? ²⁸ He lives on a high rock. His strong place is on the mountain-top that is hard to reach. ²⁹ From there he looks for his food. His eyes see it from far away. ³⁰ He is where dead bodies are and his young ones drink the blood.”