Job 38 — T4T

Yahweh replied to Job

38Verse 1Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,^{Verse 2}“◄Who are you to question what I plan to do?/You have no right/authority to question what I plan to do.► [RHQ]You are speaking ignorantly!^{Verse 3}I want to ask you some questions,so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET],
prepare to answer my questions.^{Verse 4}◄“Where were you/Were you there with me► long ago when I ◄laid the foundations of/created► the earth?Since you know so much, tell me where you were at that time.^{Verse 5}Do you know how I decided how large the earth would be?Do you know who stretched a measuring tape around the earth?
Surely since you think that you know so much, you should know that!^{Verse 6}What supports the pillars on which the earth rests?
When the stars that shine early in the morning sang together,and someone put in place the stone that causes the earth to stay in its place,
and all the angels shouted joyfully when they saw that happening,who laid that cornerstone? Did you?^{Verse 8}“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth,who prevented the water from flooding over the land?^{Verse 9}It was I, not you, who caused clouds to come over the seasand caused it to become very dark under those clouds.^{Verse 10}I set limits for the seas,and I put barriers so that the water would not come over the land.^{Verse 11}I pointed to the shore and said to the water,‘I permit you to come up to here, but I do not permit you to come any farther.
Your powerful waves must stop there!’^{Verse 12}“Job, have you ever commanded the morning to begin?Have you ever told the dawn to start a new day?^{Verse 13}Have you ever told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth,with the result that wicked people run away from the light?^{Verse 14}When it becomes light after the dawn,the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.^{Verse 15}When it becomes daylight, the wicked do not have the darkness that they like;in the daylight they no longer are able to raise up their arms, ready to hurt people.^{Verse 16}“Job, have you traveled to the springs in the bottom of the ocean from which the water in the seas comes?Have you investigated/explored the very bottom of the oceans?^{Verse 17}Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are,the gates to the place where it is very dark?^{Verse 18}Do you know how big the earth is?Tell me, if you know all these things!^{Verse 19}“Where is the road to the place where light comes from?And can you tell me where darkness lives?^{Verse 20}Can take me to its home?Do you know where the road is that goes there?^{Verse 21}I am sure that you know these things,because you talk as though you were born before the time when all things were created;
you must be very old!^{Verse 22}“Have you entered the place where I store the snowand the place where I keep the hail?^{Verse 23}I store the snow and the hail in order that I can use them to help my people when they have troubles,in times when they are fighting wars [DOU].^{Verse 24}And where is the road to the place from which I cause the lightning to flash?Where is the place from where the east wind begins to blow over all the earth?^{Verse 25}Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky?Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?^{Verse 26}Who causes rain to fall in the desert,in places where no one lives?^{Verse 27}Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown,with the result that grass begins to grow again?^{Verse 28}Does the rain have a father?Does the dew also have a father?^{Verse 29}And from whose womb does ice come in the ◄winter/cold season►?Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?^{Verse 30}In the winter, the water freezes and becomes hard, like a rock,and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.^{Verse 31}“Job, can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
^{Verse 32}Can you tell the stars when they should shine?Can you guide the stars in the groups in the northern sky whose names are the Big Bear and the Little Bear?^{Verse 33}Do you know the laws that the stars must obey?Can you cause those same laws to rule everything here on the earth?^{Verse 34}“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
^{Verse 35}Can you cause flashes of lightning to come down and strike where you want it to strike?Do those flashes say to you, ‘Where do you want us to strike next?’^{Verse 36}Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
^{Verse 37}And who is skilled/wise enough to be able to count the clouds?Who can tilt the jugs of water in the sky to cause the rain to fall,^{Verse 38}with the result that the dry ground becomes hardas the dry ◄clods/lumps of soil► become wet and stick together?^{Verse 39}“When a lioness and her cubs crouch in their dens or hide in a thicket, waiting for some animal to pass by that they can kill,
can you find animals for a lioness to killso that she and her cubs can eat the meat and not be hungry any more?^{Verse 41}Who provides dead animals for crows,when the baby crows are calling out to me for food,
when they are so weak because of their lack of food that they ◄stagger around/can hardly stand up► in their nests?”