Job 38 — FBV

38Verse 1Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,^{+Verse 2}“Who is this who questions my wisdom by talking so ignorantly?^{Verse 3}Prepare yourself, be strong,⁺for I am going to question you, and you must answer me.^{Verse 4}Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have such knowledge!^{Verse 5}Who decided its dimensions? Don't you know? Who stretched out a measuring line?^{Verse 6}What do its foundations rest upon? Who laid its cornerstone,^{Verse 7}when the stars of the morning sang together and all the angels⁺shouted for joy.^{Verse 8}Who laid down the boundaries of the sea when it was born?^{+Verse 9}Who clothed it with clouds, and wrapped it in a blanket of deep darkness?^{Verse 10}I set its limits, marking its borders.^{+Verse 11}I said, ‘You may come here, but no farther. Here is where your proud waves stop.’^{Verse 12}During your lifetime, have you ever ordered the morning to begin?^{Verse 13}Have you ever told the dawn where to appear that it might take hold of the corners of the earth and shake the wicked out?^{+Verse 14}The earth is changed like clay under a seal;⁺its features stand out like a crumpled garment.^{Verse 15}The ‘light’⁺of the wicked is taken away from them; their acts of violence are stopped.^{Verse 16}Have you entered the sources of the sea? Have you explored their hidden depths?^{Verse 17}Have you been shown where the gates of death are? Have you seen the gates of utter darkness?^{Verse 18}Do you know how far the earth extends? Tell me if you know all this!^{Verse 19}In which direction does light live? Where does darkness dwell?^{Verse 20}Can you take them home? Do you know the way to where they live?^{Verse 21}Of course you know, because you were already born then! You've lived so long!^{Verse 22}Have you been to where the snow is kept? Have you seen where the hail is held?^{Verse 23}I have stored them up for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle.^{+Verse 24}Do you know the way to where light comes from, or to where the east wind blows over the earth?^{Verse 25}Who cuts a channel for the rain to flow? Who creates a path for the thunderbolt?^{Verse 26}Who brings rain to an uninhabited land, to a desert where nobody lives,^{Verse 27}to water a parched wasteland to make the green grass grow?^{Verse 28}Does the rain have a father? Who was the father of the dewdrops?^{Verse 29}Who was the mother of ice? Does the frost of the air have a mother?^{Verse 30}Water turns into rock-hard ice; its surface freezes solid.^{Verse 31}Can you tie together the stars of the Pleiades? Can you loosen the belt of the Orion constellation?^{+Verse 32}Can you guide the stars of Mazzaroth⁺at the right time? Can you direct the Great Bear constellation and its other stars?^{Verse 33}Do you know the laws of the heavens?⁺Can you apply them to the earth?^{Verse 34}Can you shout to the clouds and command them to pour rain down on you?^{Verse 35}Can you send out bolts of lightning and direct them, so that they can answer you saying, ‘Here we are’?^{Verse 36}Who has placed wisdom inside people? Who has given understanding to the mind?^{+Verse 37}Who is clever enough to count the clouds? Who can turn heaven's water jars on their sides^{Verse 38}when the dust has baked into a solid mass?^{+Verse 39}Can you hunt prey for the lion? Can you feed the lion cubs^{Verse 40}as they crouch down in their dens and lie in wait in the bushes?^{Verse 41}Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God, weak from starvation?”