Home -> Major Sections of the Bible -> Job 38:1 - Job 41:34
God Speaks
Job 38:1 - Job 41:34
God, Speaks, Convinces Job of Ignorance
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Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,
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"Who is this who darkens counselby words without knowledge?
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Brace yourself like a man,for I will question you, then you answer me!
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"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?Declare, if you have understanding.
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Who determined its measures, if you know?Or who stretched the line on it?
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Whereupon were its foundations fastened?Or who laid its cornerstone,
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when the morning stars sang together,and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
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"Or who shut up the sea with doors,when it broke out of the womb,
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when I made clouds its garment,and wrapped it in thick darkness,
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marked out for it my bound,set bars and doors,
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and said, 'Here you may come, but no further.Here your proud waves shall be stayed?'
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"Have you commanded the morning in your days,and caused the dawn to know its place;
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that it might take hold of the ends of the earth,and shake the wicked out of it?
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It is changed as clay under the seal,and presented as a garment.
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From the wicked, their light is withheld.The high arm is broken.
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"Have you entered into the springs of the sea?Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
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Have the gates of death been revealed to you?Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
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Have you comprehended the earth in its width?Declare, if you know it all.
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"What is the way to the dwelling of light?As for darkness, where is its place,
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that you should take it to its bound,that you should discern the paths to its house?
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Surely you know, for you were born then,and the number of your days is great!
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Have you entered the treasuries of the snow,or have you seen the treasures of the hail,
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which I have reserved against the time of trouble,against the day of battle and war?
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By what way is the lightning distributed,or the east wind scattered on the earth?
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Who has cut a channel for the flood water,or the path for the thunderstorm;
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To cause it to rain on a land where no man is;on the wilderness, in which there is no man;
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to satisfy the waste and desolate ground,to cause the tender grass to grow?
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Does the rain have a father?Or who fathers the drops of dew?
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Out of whose womb came the ice?The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it?
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The waters become hard like stone,when the surface of the deep is frozen.
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"Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,or loosen the cords of Orion?
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Can you lead the constellations out in their season?Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
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Do you know the laws of the heavens?Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
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"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,That abundance of waters may cover you?
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Can you send out lightnings, that they may go?Do they report to you, 'Here we are?'
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Who has put wisdom in the inward parts?Or who has given understanding to the mind?
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Who can count the clouds by wisdom?Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky,
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when the dust runs into a mass,and the clods of earth stick together?
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"Can you hunt the prey for the lioness,or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
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when they crouch in their dens,and lie in wait in the thicket?
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Who provides for the raven his prey,when his young ones cry to God,and wander for lack of food?
God Speaks of His Creation
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"Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth?Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
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Can you count the months that they fulfill?Or do you know the time when they give birth?
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They bow themselves, they bear their young.They end their labor pains.
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Their young ones become strong.They grow up in the open field.They go out, and don't return again.
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"Who has set the wild donkey free?Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
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Whose home I have made the wilderness,and the salt land his dwelling place?
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He scorns the tumult of the city,neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.
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The range of the mountains is his pasture,He searches after every green thing.
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"Will the wild ox be content to serve you?Or will he stay by your feeding trough?
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Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness?Or will he till the valleys after you?
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Will you trust him, because his strength is great?Or will you leave to him your labor?
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Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed,and gather the grain of your threshing floor?
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"The wings of the ostrich wave proudly;but are they the feathers and plumage of love?
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For she leaves her eggs on the earth,warms them in the dust,
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and forgets that the foot may crush them,or that the wild animal may trample them.
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She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers.Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,
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because God has deprived her of wisdom,neither has he imparted to her understanding.
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When she lifts up herself on high,she scorns the horse and his rider.
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"Have you given the horse might?Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
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Have you made him to leap as a locust?The glory of his snorting is awesome.
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He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength.He goes out to meet the armed men.
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He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed,neither does he turn back from the sword.
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The quiver rattles against him,the flashing spear and the javelin.
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He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage,neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
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As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, 'Aha!'He smells the battle afar off,the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
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"Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars,and stretches her wings toward the south?
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Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up,and makes his nest on high?
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On the cliff he dwells, and makes his home,on the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.
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From there he spies out the prey.His eyes see it afar off.
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His young ones also suck up blood.Where the slain are, there he is."
Job Humbles Himself to God
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Moreover the LORD answered Job,
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"Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty?He who argues with God, let him answer it."
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Then Job answered The LORD,
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"Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer you?I lay my hand on my mouth.
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I have spoken once, and I will not answer;Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further."
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Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,
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"Now brace yourself like a man.I will question you, and you will answer me.
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Will you even annul my judgment?Will you condemn me, that you may be justified?
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Or do you have an arm like God?Can you thunder with a voice like him?
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"Now deck yourself with excellency and dignity.Array yourself with honor and majesty.
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Pour out the fury of your anger.Look at everyone who is proud, and bring him low.
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Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him.Crush the wicked in their place.
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Hide them in the dust together.Bind their faces in the hidden place.
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Then I will also admit to youthat your own right hand can save you.
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"See now, behemoth, which I made as well as you.He eats grass as an ox.
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Look now, his strength is in his thighs.His force is in the muscles of his belly.
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He moves his tail like a cedar.The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
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His bones are like tubes of brass.His limbs are like bars of iron.
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He is the chief of the ways of God.He who made him gives him his sword.
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Surely the mountains produce food for him,where all the animals of the field play.
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He lies under the lotus trees,in the covert of the reed, and the marsh.
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The lotuses cover him with their shade.The willows of the brook surround him.
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Behold, if a river overflows, he doesn't tremble.He is confident, though the Jordan swells even to his mouth.
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Shall any take him when he is on the watch,or pierce through his nose with a snare?
God's Power Shown in Creatures
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"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook,or press down his tongue with a cord?
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Can you put a rope into his nose,or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
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Will he make many petitions to you,or will he speak soft words to you?
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Will he make a covenant with you,that you should take him for a servant forever?
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Will you play with him as with a bird?Or will you bind him for your girls?
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Will traders barter for him?Will they part him among the merchants?
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Can you fill his skin with barbed irons,or his head with fish spears?
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Lay your hand on him.Remember the battle, and do so no more.
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Behold, the hope of him is in vain.Won't one be cast down even at the sight of him?
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None is so fierce that he dare stir him up.Who then is he who can stand before me?
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Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?Everything under the heavens is mine.
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"I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.
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Who can strip off his outer garment?Who shall come within his jaws?
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Who can open the doors of his face?Around his teeth is terror.
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Strong scales are his pride,shut up together with a close seal.
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One is so near to another,that no air can come between them.
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They are joined to one another.They stick together, so that they can't be pulled apart.
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His sneezing flashes out light.His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
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Out of his mouth go burning torches.Sparks of fire leap out.
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Out of his nostrils a smoke goes,as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.
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His breath kindles coals.A flame goes out of his mouth.
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There is strength in his neck.Terror dances before him.
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The flakes of his flesh are joined together.They are firm on him.They can't be moved.
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His heart is as firm as a stone,yes, firm as the lower millstone.
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When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid.They retreat before his thrashing.
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If one attacks him with the sword, it can't prevail;nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.
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He counts iron as straw;and brass as rotten wood.
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The arrow can't make him flee.Sling stones are like chaff to him.
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Clubs are counted as stubble.He laughs at the rushing of the javelin.
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His undersides are like sharp potsherds,leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
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He makes the deep to boil like a pot.He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
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He makes a path shine after him.One would think the deep had white hair.
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On earth there is not his equal,that is made without fear.
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He sees everything that is high.He is king over all the sons of pride."
