38:1 Then the
with words without knowledge?
I will question you
and you will inform me!
when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you possess understanding!
or who stretched a measuring line across it?
or who laid its cornerstone -
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
when it burst forth, coming out of the womb,
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and set in place its bolts and doors,
and no farther,
here your proud waves will be confined'?
or made the dawn know its place,
and shake the wicked out of it?
its features are dyed like a garment.
and the arm raised in violence is broken.
or walked about in the recesses of the deep?
Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness?
Tell me, if you know it all!
and darkness, where is its place,
and perceive the pathways to their homes?
and the number of your days is great!
or seen the armory of the hail,
for the day of war and battle?
or the east winds scattered over the earth?
and a path for the rumble of thunder,
a desert where there are no human beings,
and to cause it to sprout with vegetation?
or who has fathered the drops of the dew?
and the frost from the sky, who gives birth to it,
when the surface of the deep is frozen solid?
or release the cords of Orion?
the constellations in their seasons,
or guide the Bear with its cubs?
or can you set up their rule over the earth?
so that a flood of water covers you?
Will they say to you, 'Here we are'?
or has imparted understanding to the mind?
and who can tip over the water jars of heaven,
and the clumps of earth stick together?
and satisfy the appetite of the lions,
when they wait in ambush in the thicket?
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?
and do you know the time they give birth?
they bring forth the offspring they have carried.
they go off, and do not return to them.
Who released the bonds of the donkey,
the salt wastes as its dwelling place?
it does not hear the shouts of a driver.
and searches after every green plant.
Will it spend the night at your feeding trough?
will it till the valleys, following after you?
Will you commit your labor to it?
and gather the grain to your threshing floor?
but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork?
and lets them be warmed on the soil.
or that a wild animal might trample them.
as if they were not hers;
she is unconcerned
about the uselessness of her labor.
and did not impart understanding to her.
she laughs at the horse and its rider.
Do you clothe its neck with a mane?
Its proud neighing is terrifying!
exulting mightily,
it goes out to meet the weapons.
it does not shy away from the sword.
the lance and javelin flash.
it cannot stand still when the trumpet is blown.
And from a distance it catches the scent of battle,
the thunderous shouting of commanders,
and the battle cries.
and spreads its wings toward the south?
and builds its nest on high?
on a rocky crag and a fortress.
its eyes gaze intently from a distance.
and where the dead carcasses are,
there it is."
Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!"
I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself.
twice, but I will say no more."
I will question you and you will inform me!
Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
and clothe yourself with glory and honor!
Look at every proud man and bring him low;
crush the wicked on the spot!
imprison them in the grave.
that your own right hand can save you.
it eats grass like the ox.
and its power in the muscles of its belly.
the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound.
its limbs like bars of iron.
the One who made it
has furnished it with a sword.
where all the wild animals play.
in the secrecy of the reeds and the marsh.
the poplars by the stream conceal it.
it is secure, though the Jordan
should surge up to its mouth.
or pierce its nose with a snare?
and tie down its tongue with a rope?
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
will it speak to you with tender words?
so you could take it as your slave for life?
or tie it on a leash for your girls?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
or its head with fishing spears?
you will remember the fight,
and you will never do it again!
he is laid low even at the sight of it.
Who is he, then, who can stand before it?
Everything under heaven belongs to me!)
and the extent of its might,
and the grace of its arrangement.
Who can penetrate to the inside of its armor?
Its teeth all around are fearsome.
shut up closely together as with a seal;
that no air can come between them.
they cling together and cannot be separated.
its eyes are like the red glow of dawn.
sparks of fire shoot forth!
as from a boiling pot over burning rushes.
and a flame shoots from its mouth.
and despair runs before it.
they are firm on it, immovable.
hard as a lower millstone.
at its thrashing about they withdraw.
will have no effect,
nor with the spear, arrow, or dart.
and bronze as rotten wood.
slingstones become like chaff to it.
it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
it leaves its mark in the mud
like a threshing sledge.
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment,
one would think the deep had a head of white hair.
a creature without fear.
it is king over all that are proud."
The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® copyright © 1996, 2019, used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.