JPS - Job - 38

38:1  Then HaShem answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:

38:2  Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

38:3  Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto Me.

38:4  Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast the understanding.

38:5  Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched the line upon it?

38:6  Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner-stone thereof,

38:7  When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of G-d shouted for joy?

38:8  Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth, and issued out of the womb;

38:9  When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

38:10  And prescribed for it My decree, and set bars and doors,

38:11  And said: 'Thus far shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed'?

38:12  Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began, and caused the dayspring to know its place;

38:13  That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

38:14  It is changed as clay under the seal; and they stand as a garment.

38:15  But from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm is broken.

38:16  Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?

38:17  Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

38:18  Hast thou surveyed unto the breadths of the earth? Declare, if thou knowest it all.

38:19  Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and as for darkness, where is the place thereof;

38:20  That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

38:21  Thou knowest it, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!

38:22  Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow, or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,

38:23  Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

38:24  By what way is the light parted, or the east wind scattered upon the earth?

38:25  Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood, or a way for the lightning of the thunder;

38:26  To cause it to rain on a land where no man is, on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

38:27  To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

38:28  Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

38:29  Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoar-frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

38:30  The waters are congealed like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

38:31  Canst thou bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

38:32  Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or canst thou guide the Bear with her sons?

38:33  Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?

38:34  Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

38:35  Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee: 'Here we are'?

38:36  Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who hath given understanding to the mind?

38:37  Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,

38:38  When the dust runneth into a mass, and the clods cleave fast together?

38:39  Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lioness? Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

38:40  When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

38:41  Who provideth for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry unto G-d, and wander for lack of food?