Job 38 - New International Version (NIV)

The Lord Speaks

38 Then the Lord spoke to Job(A) out of the storm.(B) He said:

2 “Who is this that obscures my plans(C)
with words without knowledge?(D)
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.(E)

4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?(F)
Tell me, if you understand.(G)
5 Who marked off its dimensions?(H) Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line(I) across it?
6 On what were its footings set,(J)
or who laid its cornerstone(K)—
7 while the morning stars(L) sang together(M)
and all the angels[a](N) shouted for joy?(O)

8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors(P)
when it burst forth from the womb,(Q)
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,(R)
10 when I fixed limits for it(S)
and set its doors and bars in place,(T)
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;(U)
here is where your proud waves halt’?(V)

12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,(W)
or shown the dawn its place,(X)
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked(Y) out of it?(Z)
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;(AA)
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,(AB)
and their upraised arm is broken.(AC)

16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?(AD)
17 Have the gates of death(AE) been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?(AF)
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?(AG)
Tell me, if you know all this.(AH)

19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?(AI)
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths(AJ) to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!(AK)
You have lived so many years!

22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow(AL)
or seen the storehouses(AM) of the hail,(AN)
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,(AO)
for days of war and battle?(AP)
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,(AQ)
or the place where the east winds(AR) are scattered over the earth?(AS)
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,(AT)
26 to water(AU) a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,(AV)
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?(AW)
28 Does the rain have a father?(AX)
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens(AY)
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?(AZ)

31 “Can you bind the chains[b] of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?(BA)
32 Can you bring forth the constellations(BB) in their seasons[c]
or lead out the Bear[d] with its cubs?(BC)
33 Do you know the laws(BD) of the heavens?(BE)
Can you set up God’s[e] dominion over the earth?

34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?(BF)
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?(BG)
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdom[f](BH)
or gives the rooster understanding?[g](BI)
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars(BJ) of the heavens(BK)
38 when the dust becomes hard(BL)
and the clods of earth stick together?(BM)

39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions(BN)
40 when they crouch in their dens(BO)
or lie in wait in a thicket?(BP)
41 Who provides food(BQ) for the raven(BR)
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?(BS)

Footnotes

  1. Job 38:7 Hebrew the sons of God
  2. Job 38:31 Septuagint; Hebrew beauty
  3. Job 38:32 Or the morning star in its season
  4. Job 38:32 Or out Leo
  5. Job 38:33 Or their
  6. Job 38:36 That is, wisdom about the flooding of the Nile
  7. Job 38:36 That is, understanding of when to crow; the meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

Cross references

  1. Job 38:1 : S Job 11:5
  2. Job 38:1 : S Ex 14:21; S 1Sa 2:10; Job 40:6; Isa 21:1; Eze 1:4
  3. Job 38:2 : S 1Ki 22:5; Isa 40:13
  4. Job 38:2 : S Job 34:35; Mk 10:38; 1Ti 1:7
  5. Job 38:3 : Job 40:7; 42:4; Mk 11:29
  6. Job 38:4 : S ver 5; S Ge 1:1; S 1Sa 2:8
  7. Job 38:4 : ver 18; S Job 34:13; Pr 30:4
  8. Job 38:5 : ver 4; Ps 102:25; Pr 8:29; Isa 40:12; 48:13; Jer 31:37
  9. Job 38:5 : Jer 31:39; Zec 1:16; 4:9-10
  10. Job 38:6 : Pr 8:25
  11. Job 38:6 : S Job 26:7
  12. Job 38:7 : S Ge 1:16
  13. Job 38:7 : Ps 19:1-4; 148:2-3
  14. Job 38:7 : S 1Ki 22:19
  15. Job 38:7 : S Dt 16:15
  16. Job 38:8 : ver 11; Ps 33:7; Pr 8:29; Jer 5:22
  17. Job 38:8 : S Ge 1:9-10
  18. Job 38:9 : S Ge 1:2
  19. Job 38:10 : S Job 28:25; Ps 33:7; 104:9; Isa 40:12
  20. Job 38:10 : Ne 3:3; Job 7:12; 26:10
  21. Job 38:11 : S ver 8
  22. Job 38:11 : Ps 65:7; 89:9; 104:6-9
  23. Job 38:12 : Ps 57:8
  24. Job 38:12 : Ps 74:16; Am 5:8
  25. Job 38:13 : Ps 104:35
  26. Job 38:13 : S Job 8:22
  27. Job 38:14 : Ex 28:11
  28. Job 38:15 : S Dt 28:29; S Job 15:22; S 18:5
  29. Job 38:15 : S Ge 17:14; S Job 4:10; S 31:22
  30. Job 38:16 : S Ge 1:7; S Job 9:8
  31. Job 38:17 : S Job 33:22; Mt 16:18; Rev 1:18
  32. Job 38:17 : S Job 7:9
  33. Job 38:18 : S Job 28:24; Isa 40:12
  34. Job 38:18 : S ver 4
  35. Job 38:19 : S Ge 1:4; S Job 28:3; Ps 139:11-12
  36. Job 38:20 : S Job 24:13
  37. Job 38:21 : Job 15:7
  38. Job 38:22 : S Job 37:6
  39. Job 38:22 : S Dt 28:12
  40. Job 38:22 : Ps 105:32; 147:17
  41. Job 38:23 : Ps 27:5; Isa 28:17; 30:30; Eze 13:11
  42. Job 38:23 : Ex 9:26; Jos 10:11; Eze 13:13; Rev 16:21
  43. Job 38:24 : S Job 28:24
  44. Job 38:24 : S Job 27:21
  45. Job 38:24 : Jer 10:13; 51:16
  46. Job 38:25 : Job 28:26
  47. Job 38:26 : Job 36:27
  48. Job 38:26 : Ps 84:6; 107:35; Isa 41:18
  49. Job 38:27 : S Job 28:26; S 37:13; S Ps 104:14
  50. Job 38:28 : S 2Sa 1:21; S Job 5:10
  51. Job 38:29 : Ps 147:16-17
  52. Job 38:30 : Job 37:10
  53. Job 38:31 : Job 9:9; Am 5:8
  54. Job 38:32 : 2Ki 23:5; Isa 13:10; 40:26; 45:12; Jer 19:13
  55. Job 38:32 : S Ge 1:16
  56. Job 38:33 : Ps 148:6; Jer 31:36
  57. Job 38:33 : S Ge 1:16
  58. Job 38:34 : S Job 5:10; S 22:11
  59. Job 38:35 : S Job 36:32
  60. Job 38:36 : S Job 9:4; S 34:32; Jas 1:5
  61. Job 38:36 : S Job 12:13
  62. Job 38:37 : S Jos 3:16
  63. Job 38:37 : S Job 22:11
  64. Job 38:38 : S Lev 26:19
  65. Job 38:38 : 1Ki 18:45
  66. Job 38:39 : S Ge 49:9
  67. Job 38:40 : S Job 37:8
  68. Job 38:40 : S Ge 49:9
  69. Job 38:41 : S Ge 1:30
  70. Job 38:41 : S Ge 8:7; Lk 12:24
  71. Job 38:41 : Ps 147:9; S Mt 6:26

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