Book of Job, Chapter 38
Job 38 NWT - New World TranslationChapter 38 of Job—New World Translation (NWT)
- ¶ And Jehovah proceeded to answer Job out of the windstorm1 and say:
- ¶ “Who is this that is obscuring counsel
By words without knowledge?2 - ¶ Gird up your loins, please, like an able-bodied man,
And let me question you, and you inform me.3 - ¶ Where did you happen to be when I founded the earth?4
Tell [me], if you do know understanding. - ¶ Who set its measurements, in case you know,
Or who stretched out upon it the measuring line? - ¶ Into what have its socket pedestals5 been sunk down,
Or who laid its cornerstone, - ¶ When the morning stars6 joyfully cried out together,
And all the sons of God[a]7 began shouting in applause? - ¶ And [who] barricaded the sea with doors,[b]8
Which began to go forth as when it burst out from the womb; - ¶ When I put the cloud as its[c] garment
And thick gloom as its swaddling band, - ¶ And I proceeded to break up[d] my regulation upon it
And to set a bar and doors,9 - ¶ And I went on to say, ‘This far you may come, and no farther;10
And here your proud waves are limited’?11 - ¶ Was it from your days onward that you commanded the morning?12
Did you cause the dawn to know its place, - ¶ To take hold on the extremities[e] of the earth,
That the wicked ones[f] might be shaken out from it?13 - ¶ It transforms itself like clay14 under a seal,
And things[g] take their station as in clothing. - ¶ And from the wicked ones[h] their light is held back,15
And the high arm itself gets broken.16 - ¶ Have you come to the sources[i] of the sea,
Or in search of the watery deep[j]17 have you walked about?18 - ¶ Have the gates of death19 been uncovered to you,
Or the gates of deep shadow[k]20 can you see? - ¶ Have you intelligently considered the broad spaces of the earth?21
Tell, if you have come to know it all. - ¶ Where, now, is the way to where light resides?22
As for darkness, where, now, is its place, - ¶ That you should take it to its boundary
And that you should understand the roadways to its house? - ¶ Have you come to know because at that time you were being born,23
And [because] in number your days are many? - ¶ Have you entered into the storehouses of the snow,24
Or do you see even the storehouses of the hail,25 - ¶ Which I have kept back for the time of distress,
For the day of fight and war?26 - ¶ Where, now, is the way by which the light[l] distributes itself,
[And] the east wind27 scatters about upon the earth? - ¶ Who has divided a channel for the flood
And a way for the thunderous storm cloud,28 - ¶ To make it rain upon the land where there is no man,[m]29
[Upon] the wilderness in which there is no earthling man,[n] - ¶ To satisfy storm-stricken and desolate places
And to cause the growth of grass to sprout?30 - ¶ Does there exist a father for the rain,31
Or who gave birth to the dewdrops?32 - ¶ Out of whose belly does the ice actually come forth,
And as for the hoarfrost33 of heaven, who indeed brings it to birth? - ¶ The very waters keep themselves hidden as by stone,
And the surface of the watery deep makes itself compact.34 - ¶ Can you tie fast the bonds of the Kiʹmah constellation,[o]
Or can you loosen the very cords of the Keʹsil constellation?[p]35 - ¶ Can you bring forth the Mazʹza·roth constellation[q] in its appointed time?
And as for the Ash constellation[r] alongside its sons, can you conduct them? - ¶ Have you come to know the statutes of the heavens,36
Or could you put its authority in the earth? - ¶ Can you raise your voice even to the cloud,
So that a heaving mass of water itself may cover you?37 - ¶ Can you send forth lightnings that they may go
And say to you, ‘Here we are!’? - ¶ Who put wisdom38 in the cloud layers,[s]
Or who gave understanding39 to the sky phenomenon?[t] - ¶ Who can exactly number the clouds in wisdom,
Or the water jars of heaven—who can tip [them] over,40 - ¶ When the dust pours out as into a molten mass,
And the clods of earth themselves get stuck together? - ¶ Can you hunt prey for a lion itself
And can you satisfy[u] the lively appetite of young lions,41 - ¶ When they crouch in the hiding places,42
[Or] keep lying in the covert for an ambush? - ¶ Who prepares for the raven its food43
When its own young ones cry to God[v] for help,
[When] they keep wandering about because there is nothing to eat?
FOOTNOTES
- ^ “Sons of God.” Or, “godlike ones.” Heb., benehʹ ʼElo·himʹ; T, “the bands of angels”; LXX, “my angels.”
- ^ Or, “double doors,” as in 2Ch 14:7.
- ^ That is, the sea’s.
- ^ “Break up,” M; LXX, “put.”
- ^ Lit., “wings.”
- ^ “The wicked ones.” Here in M the Heb. letter ʽAʹyin (ע) is suspended as an insertion to indicate that the word should read “wicked ones” instead of “poor ones.” Compare Jg 18:30 ftn, “Moses’.”
- ^ Lit., “they.”
- ^ See vs 13 ftn, “Ones.”
- ^ Or, “sandy ground.”
- ^ Or, “surging waters.” See 28:14 ftn.
- ^ Lit., “death shadow,” M; LXX, “Hades,” that is, the common grave; T, “death of Gehenna.”
- ^ “Hoarfrost,” LXX.
- ^ “Man.” Heb., ʼish.
- ^ “Earthling man.” Heb., ʼa·dhamʹ. See Ge 1:26 ftn, “Man.”
- ^ See 9:9 ftn, “Kimah constellation.”
- ^ See 9:9 ftn, “Kesil constellation.”
- ^ “The Mazzaroth constellation.” Heb., Maz·za·rohthʹ; Gr., Ma·zou·rothʹ (as in 2Ki 23:5 where it is translated “constellations of the zodiac”); Sy, “the Wagon constellation”; Lat., lu·ciʹfe·rum, “the light bearer.”
- ^ See 9:9 ftn, “Ash constellation.”
- ^ “In the cloud layers.” Heb., bat·tu·chohthʹ, the meaning is uncertain.
- ^ “To the sky phenomenon.” Heb., las·sekhʹwi, the meaning is uncertain but appears to refer to some heavenly phenomenon.
- ^ Lit., “fill.”
- ^ “God.” Heb., ʼEl.
REFERENCES
- ^ Ex 19:16; 1Ki 19:11
- ^ Jb 42:3; 1Ti 1:7
- ^ Jb 40:7
- ^ Ge 1:1; Ne 9:6; Ps 104:5; 136:6; Pr 8:29; Heb 1:10
- ^ Ps 104:5
- ^ Re 22:16
- ^ Ge 6:2; 1Ki 22:21; Jb 1:6; 2:1; Ps 89:6; 104:4
- ^ Ps 33:7; Pr 8:29; Ac 4:24
- ^ Ge 1:9; Je 5:22
- ^ Pr 8:29
- ^ Ps 89:9
- ^ Ge 1:5; Ps 74:16; 148:5
- ^ Jb 24:15; 1Th 5:7
- ^ Je 18:6
- ^ Ex 10:21; Jb 33:30
- ^ Ps 10:15; Je 48:25; Eze 30:22
- ^ Ge 1:2
- ^ Ps 77:19
- ^ Ps 9:13; 107:18; Mt 16:18; Re 1:18
- ^ Jb 10:21
- ^ Ps 74:17; 89:11
- ^ Is 45:7
- ^ Jb 38:12
- ^ Jb 6:16; 37:6
- ^ Jos 10:11; Is 30:30
- ^ Ex 9:24; Eze 13:13
- ^ Ps 78:26; 135:7
- ^ Jb 28:26
- ^ Ps 104:13; 107:35
- ^ 2Sa 23:4; Ps 147:8; Heb 6:7
- ^ 1Sa 12:18; Is 30:23; Je 5:24
- ^ Ge 27:28
- ^ Ps 147:16
- ^ Jb 37:10
- ^ Am 5:8
- ^ Pr 3:19; Je 31:35; 33:25
- ^ Zc 10:1
- ^ Ps 136:5; Je 10:12
- ^ Pr 3:20
- ^ Je 10:13
- ^ Ps 104:21; 145:15; Na 2:12
- ^ La 3:10
- ^ Ps 104:27; 147:9; Mt 6:26; Lu 12:24
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