CPDV - Job - 38

38:1  But the Lord, responding to Job from a whirlwind, said:

38:2  Who is this that wraps sentences in unskilled words?

38:3  Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me.

38:4  Where were you, when I set the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

38:5  Who set its measurements, if you know, or who stretched a line over it?

38:6  Upon what have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its cornerstone,

38:7  when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful noise?

38:8  Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if issuing from the womb,

38:9  when I stationed a cloud as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an infant?

38:10  I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned its bars and doors.

38:11  And I said: “This far you will approach, and you will proceed no further, and here you will break your swelling waves.”

38:12  Did you, after your birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its place?

38:13  And did you hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and have you shaken the impious out of it?

38:14  The seal will be restored like clay, and it will remain in place like a garment.

38:15  From the impious, the light will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken.

38:16  Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you taken a walk in the uttermost parts of the abyss?

38:17  Have the gates of death been opened to you, and have you seen the doors of darkness?

38:18  Have you considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things, reveal them to me.

38:19  Which is the way that holds the light, and which is the place of darkness?

38:20  In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house.

38:21  So then, did you know when you were to be born? And did you know the number of your days?

38:22  Have you been admitted into the storehouses of the snows, and have you gazed upon the stockpile of the brimstone,

38:23  which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, for the day of the battle and the war?

38:24  In what way is the light scattered, and the heat distributed, over the earth?

38:25  Who gave a course to the rainstorms, and a path to the resounding thunder,

38:26  so that it would rain on the earth far from man, in the wilderness where no mortal lingers,

38:27  so that it would fill impassable and desolate places, and would bring forth green plants?

38:28  Who is the father of rain, or who conceived the drops of dew?

38:29  From whose womb did the ice proceed, and who created the frost from the air?

38:30  The waters are hardened to become like stone, and the surface of the abyss freezes over.

38:31  Will you have the strength to join together the sparkling stars of the Pleiades, or are you able to disperse the circling of Arcturus?

38:32  Can you bring forth the morning star, in its time, and make the evening star rise over the sons of the earth?

38:33  Do you know the order of heaven, and can you explain its rules here on the earth?

38:34  Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an onslaught of waters will cover you?

38:35  Can you send forth lightning bolts, and will they go, and on returning, say to you: “Here we are?”

38:36  Who placed discernment in the guts of man, or who gave the rooster intelligence?

38:37  Who can describe the rules of the heavens, or who can put to rest the harmony of heaven?

38:38  When was the dust cast to become the earth, and when were its clods fastened together?

38:39  Will you seize prey for the lioness, and will you sustain the lives of her young,

38:40  as they rest in their dens or lie in wait in pits?

38:41  Who provides the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as they wander around because they have no food?