Job 38

The Lord Challenges Job

1Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

2“Who is this that questions my wisdom

with such ignorant words?

3Brace yourself like a man,

because I have some questions for you,

and you must answer them.

4“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell me, if you know so much.

5Who determined its dimensions

and stretched out the surveying line?

6What supports its foundations,

and who laid its cornerstone

7as the morning stars sang together

and all the angels*38:7 Hebrew the sons of God. shouted for joy?

8“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries

as it burst from the womb,

9and as I clothed it with clouds

and wrapped it in thick darkness?

10For I locked it behind barred gates,

limiting its shores.

11I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.

Here your proud waves must stop!’

12“Have you ever commanded the morning to appear

and caused the dawn to rise in the east?

13Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,

to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?

14As the light approaches,

the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;

it is robed in brilliant colors.*38:14 Or its features stand out like folds in a robe.

15The light disturbs the wicked

and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

16“Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?

Have you explored their depths?

17Do you know where the gates of death are located?

Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?

18Do you realize the extent of the earth?

Tell me about it if you know!

19“Where does light come from,

and where does darkness go?

20Can you take each to its home?

Do you know how to get there?

21But of course you know all this!

For you were born before it was all created,

and you are so very experienced!

22“Have you visited the storehouses of the snow

or seen the storehouses of hail?

23(I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble,

for the day of battle and war.)

24Where is the path to the source of light?

Where is the home of the east wind?

25“Who created a channel for the torrents of rain?

Who laid out the path for the lightning?

26Who makes the rain fall on barren land,

in a desert where no one lives?

27Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground

and make the tender grass spring up?

28“Does the rain have a father?

Who gives birth to the dew?

29Who is the mother of the ice?

Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?

30For the water turns to ice as hard as rock,

and the surface of the water freezes.

31“Can you direct the movement of the stars—

binding the cluster of the Pleiades

or loosening the cords of Orion?

32Can you direct the constellations through the seasons

or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?

33Do you know the laws of the universe?

Can you use them to regulate the earth?

34“Can you shout to the clouds

and make it rain?

35Can you make lightning appear

and cause it to strike as you direct?

36Who gives intuition to the heart

and instinct to the mind?

37Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?

Who can tilt the water jars of heaven

38when the parched ground is dry

and the soil has hardened into clods?

39“Can you stalk prey for a lioness

and satisfy the young lions’ appetites

40as they lie in their dens

or crouch in the thicket?

41Who provides food for the ravens

when their young cry out to God

and wander about in hunger?

Job 39

The Lord’s Challenge Continues

1“Do you know when the wild goats give birth?

Have you watched as deer are born in the wild?

2Do you know how many months they carry their young?

Are you aware of the time of their delivery?

3They crouch down to give birth to their young

and deliver their offspring.

4Their young grow up in the open fields,

then leave home and never return.

5“Who gives the wild donkey its freedom?

Who untied its ropes?

6I have placed it in the wilderness;

its home is the wasteland.

7It hates the noise of the city

and has no driver to shout at it.

8The mountains are its pastureland,

where it searches for every blade of grass.

9“Will the wild ox consent to being tamed?

Will it spend the night in your stall?

10Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow?

Will it plow a field for you?

11Given its strength, can you trust it?

Can you leave and trust the ox to do your work?

12Can you rely on it to bring home your grain

and deliver it to your threshing floor?

13“The ostrich flaps her wings grandly,

but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.

14She lays her eggs on top of the earth,

letting them be warmed in the dust.

15She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them

or a wild animal might destroy them.

16She is harsh toward her young,

as if they were not her own.

She doesn’t care if they die.

17For God has deprived her of wisdom.

He has given her no understanding.

18But whenever she jumps up to run,

she passes the swiftest horse with its rider.

19“Have you given the horse its strength

or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?

20Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust?

Its majestic snorting is terrifying!

21It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength

when it charges out to battle.

22It laughs at fear and is unafraid.

It does not run from the sword.

23The arrows rattle against it,

and the spear and javelin flash.

24It paws the ground fiercely

and rushes forward into battle when the ram’s horn blows.

25It snorts at the sound of the horn.

It senses the battle in the distance.

It quivers at the captain’s commands and the noise of battle.

26“Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar

and spread its wings toward the south?

27Is it at your command that the eagle rises

to the heights to make its nest?

28It lives on the cliffs,

making its home on a distant, rocky crag.

29From there it hunts its prey,

keeping watch with piercing eyes.

30Its young gulp down blood.

Where there’s a carcass, there you’ll find it.”