Job 38

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

 ²Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

 ³Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

 ⁴Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

 ⁵Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

 ⁶Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

 ⁷When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

 ⁸Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

 ⁹When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

 ¹⁰And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,

 ¹¹And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

 ¹²Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;

 ¹³That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?

 ¹⁴It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.

 ¹⁵And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.

 ¹⁶Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

 ¹⁷Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

 ¹⁸Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.

 ¹⁹Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,

 ²⁰That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

 ²¹Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?

 ²²Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

 ²³Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

 ²⁴By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

 ²⁵Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;

 ²⁶To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

 ²⁷To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

 ²⁸Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

 ²⁹Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

 ³⁰The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

 ³¹Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

 ³²Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

 ³³Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?

 ³⁴Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

 ³⁵Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go and say unto thee, Here we are?

 ³⁶Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?

 ³⁷Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,

 ³⁸When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?

 ³⁹Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,

 ⁴⁰When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

 ⁴¹Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.