Job 38

Thomson(i) 1 After Elius had finished his speech, the Lord from a whirlwind and clouds, said to Job, 2 Who is this who is concealing counsel from me, and who hiding words in his heart thinketh to hide them from me? 3 Gird up thy loins like a man and I will question thee and answer thou me. 4 Where wast thou, when I laid the foundations of the earth? And tell me, if thou hast understanding, 5 who settled the measures of it? Dost thou know? Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 To what are the hooks of it fastened? And who laid the corner stone thereof? 7 When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice. 8 It was I who shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed eagerly from its mother's womb. 9 It was I who made a cloud its cloathing; and thick darkness its swaddling bands. 10 It was I who set bounds to it; surrounded it with bars and gates; 11 and said to it, Thus far thou shalt come and no farther: but in thyself thy waves shall be spent. 12 Was it in concert with thee that I ordered the morning light; and that the day spring knew its appointed time 13 to tinge the wings of the earth; to scare the wicked from it? 14 Didst thou take clay of the earth and form an animal and place on the earth a creature endowed with speech? 15 Hast thou withdrawn the light from the wicked, and broken in pieces the arms of the haughty? 16 Hast thou gone to the head spring of the sea; and walked in the footsteps of the abyss? 17 Are the gates of Hades opened to thee through fear, and are the porters of Hades struck with awe at seeing thee? 18 Hast thou informed thyself of the breadth of that under heaven? Tell me then what is the extent of it. 19 In what country doth light make its abode, and of what sort is the place of darkness? 20 If thou wouldst lead me to their borders, and if thou knewest their paths; 21 I would know that thou wast then born, and that the number of thy years is great. 22 Hast thou gone to the treasuries of snow, or hast thou seen the treasuries of hail? 23 Are they stored up for thee, for a time of enemies; for a day of battles and combat? 24 From what place doth hoar frost issue, or whence is the south wind scattered over the earth? 25 Who hath prepared a course for the tempest, 26 and a way for impetuous storms to water the ground, where there is not a man; the desert where no man dwelleth; to saturate an untrodden, uninhabited land 27 and cause the bud of the tender herb to spring? 28 Who is the father of rain, and who hath begotten the drops of dew? 29 From whose womb doth ice proceed, and who in the sky hath brought forth hail 30 which descendeth like a shower? Who hath struck with terror the face of the wicked? 31 Dost thou know the band of Pleias, or hast thou opened the hedge of Orion? 32 Canst thou cause Mazouroth to come forth in his season, or drag out Hesperus by his hair? 33 Dost thou know the revolutions of heaven, or the things on earth corresponding to them? 34 Canst thou summon a cloud with thy voice, and will it, with the trembling of a water spout, answer thee? 35 Canst thou despatch thunders, that they may go, and will they say to thee, Here we are? 36 Who hath given woman a skill in weaving, and a knowledge of the art of embroidering? 37 Who is it who numbereth the clouds with wisdom, and hath caused the heaven to incline to the earth, 38 when the earth was poured out like dust, and when I have glued the very clod as for a stone? 39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for lions, or satisfy the appetites of dragons? 40 For they are trembling for fear in their dens, and lying in ambush in their coverts. 41 Who hath provided food for the raven? For his young have cried to the Lord, wandering about in search of provisions.