Job 38

⁶Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

¹¹As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.

¹“At this my heart also pounds and leaps from its place.

²Listen closely to the thunder of His voice and the rumbling that comes from His mouth.

¹⁶On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled.

¹⁷Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

¹¹Then the Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. Behold, the Lord is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

¹¹You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.

¹²And the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words but saw no form; there was only a voice.

³You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

¹⁶So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”

⁷They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert.

³⁵‘Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight.’

¹¹I will instruct you in the power of God. I will not conceal the ways of the Almighty.

²⁵If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”

⁷“Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.

¹⁷Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them.

¹¹This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

⁴⁶And the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

¹³Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

²²Then call me, and I will answer, or let me speak, and You can reply.

⁵He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.

¹⁰And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

⁴Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!

²But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.

²⁵In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

¹²Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?

⁹Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.

¹Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.

²“Where are you going?” I asked. “To measure Jerusalem,” he replied, “and to determine its width and length.”

²⁷I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

²²He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

⁵⁵He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

⁷He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing.

⁵He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.

¹The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty; the Lord has clothed and armed Himself with strength. The world indeed is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

¹⁶So this is what the Lord God says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

⁵But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

¹This is the burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares the Lord, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:

¹¹Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels encircling the throne, and the living creatures and the elders. And their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.

⁶One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.

¹¹And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord: “For He is good; for His loving devotion to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord had been laid.

¹²But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple. Still, many others shouted joyfully.

¹⁶“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”

²⁸And I will give him the morning star.

⁴He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.

⁹And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so.

²⁹when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth.

²²Do you not fear Me?” declares the Lord. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.

⁸the mountains rose and the valleys sank to the place You assigned for them—

⁹You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the earth.

⁷He piles up the waters of the sea; He puts the depths into storehouses.

¹⁰when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,

²Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

²²Do you not fear Me?” declares the Lord. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.

⁹You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the earth.

⁷He piles up the waters of the sea; He puts the depths into storehouses.

¹⁰He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.

⁹And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so.

¹⁰God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

¹⁵I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

⁹You rule the raging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them.

²⁹when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth.

⁶You formed the mountains by Your power, having girded Yourself with might.

⁷You stilled the roaring of the seas, the pounding of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.

³²There on the hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. So the demons begged Jesus to let them enter the pigs, and He gave them permission.

³³Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

³⁹Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.

⁴⁰“Why are you so afraid?” He asked. “Do you still have no faith?”

⁶“Very well,” said the Lord to Satan. “He is in your hands, but you must spare his life.”

¹⁶The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun.

³Praise Him, O sun and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars.

⁴Praise Him, O highest heavens, and you waters above the skies.

⁵God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

⁹For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.

⁷He made the great lights—His loving devotion endures forever.

⁸the sun to rule the day, His loving devotion endures forever.

⁷⁸because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,

³⁵May sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Hallelujah!

³He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.

²⁷So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the Lord swept them into the sea.

²¹The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.

²²The sun rises, and they withdraw; they lie down in their dens.

¹³Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.

¹⁴When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.

⁴their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.

⁵Like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course,

⁶You covered it with the deep like a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.

²He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent,

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call him to account for his wickedness until none is left to be found.

¹⁷For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.

⁵Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.

¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.

²²Therefore this is what the Lord God says: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break his arms, both the strong one and the one already broken, and will make the sword fall from his hand.

¹⁴They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.

²⁴When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth, when no springs were overflowing with water.

¹⁹Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, but Your footprints were not to be found.

⁵The dead tremble—those beneath the waters and those who dwell in them.

⁶Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.

³⁶Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.

¹³Be merciful to me, O Lord; see how my enemies afflict me! Lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁸They loathed all food and drew near to the gates of death.

⁵May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it.

²²He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke away their chains.

¹⁰Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and chains,

⁹And they marched across the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.

¹¹The heavens are Yours, and also the earth. The earth and its fullness You founded.

¹²North and south You created; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.

³⁷This is what the Lord says: “Only if the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below searched out would I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done,” declares the Lord.

²⁸Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out.

²⁴For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

¹⁷You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and winter.

⁸All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you, and I will bring darkness upon your land,’ declares the Lord God.

⁴⁵From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.

⁷I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the Lord, do all these things.

³And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

⁴And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.

¹³For behold, He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind and reveals His thoughts to man, who turns the dawn to darkness and strides on the heights of the earth—the Lord, the God of Hosts, is His name.”

²⁰You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the beasts of the forest prowl.

¹⁰He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.

¹⁹and the borders of Canaan extended from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

¹⁷So Ephron’s field at Machpelah near Mamre, the cave that was in it, and all the trees within the boundaries of the field were deeded over

⁷Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

⁴Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.

¹²In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,

⁶For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’

⁷He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.

⁷He piles up the waters of the sea; He puts the depths into storehouses.

¹⁶darkened because of the ice and the inflow of melting snow,

¹¹As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the Lord cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites.

³⁰And the Lord will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.

²¹And great hailstones weighing almost a hundred pounds each rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.

¹⁸Behold, at this time tomorrow I will rain down the worst hail that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded until now.

¹³The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when He binds them, they do not cry for help.

¹¹tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth.

¹²Surely when the wall has fallen, you will not be asked, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’

¹²In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,

¹³that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?

⁸As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

²⁷For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

²⁶when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,

³The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is heard over many waters.

⁴The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.

²⁷For He draws up drops of water which distill the rain from the mist,

²⁸which the clouds pour out and shower abundantly on mankind.

³He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.

⁴Then there comes a roaring sound; He thunders with His majestic voice. He does not restrain the lightning when His voice resounds.

²²Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O Lord our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.

³⁵He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.

⁷For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God.

⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.

¹The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.

²It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.

¹⁹Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

²⁰The beasts of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people.

⁸who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills.

⁹He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.

³⁵He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.

¹⁴He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:

²²Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O Lord our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.

⁸who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills.

¹³When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.

²⁰By His knowledge the watery depths were broken open, and the clouds dripped with dew.

¹³Concerning Joseph he said: “May his land be blessed by the Lord with the precious dew from heaven above and the deep waters that lie beneath,

²⁸May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine.

¹⁶He spreads the snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes;

¹⁷He casts forth His hail like pebbles. Who can withstand His icy blast?

¹⁰By the breath of God the ice is formed and the watery expanses are frozen.

¹⁶darkened because of the ice and the inflow of melting snow,

⁸Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,

¹⁰By the breath of God the ice is formed and the watery expanses are frozen.

⁸He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the Lord is His name—

⁹He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

³¹Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?

⁵Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.

⁹He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

³⁵Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord of Hosts is His name:

³⁶“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the Lord, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.”

²²As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”

⁶He established them forever and ever; He issued a decree that will never pass away.

¹²In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,

¹³that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?

²⁵This is what the Lord says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed order of heaven and earth,

¹⁶God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.

¹¹it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

¹Ask the Lord for rain in springtime; the Lord makes the storm clouds, and He will give everyone showers of rain and crops in the field.

¹⁸Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops.

²⁷For He draws up drops of water which distill the rain from the mist,

²⁸which the clouds pour out and shower abundantly on mankind.

¹⁸So Samuel called to the Lord, and on that day the Lord sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

⁸He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the Lord is His name—

³²He fills His hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark.

³He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.

¹⁴Behold, fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty, with all their men. But now may my life be precious in your sight.”

⁵If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed.

⁶These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.

³⁵And fire came forth from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

¹Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the Lord, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the Lord blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.

⁸But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.

⁶Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

²⁶To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

³And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship,

⁴He determines the number of the stars; He calls them each by name.

¹⁵I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

¹But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.

⁵And the Lord took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

²¹The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.

¹⁰The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.

¹¹The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹⁰Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹⁵The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season.

¹⁶You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

⁸The wild animals enter their lairs; they settle down in their dens.

⁹He crouches, he lies down like a lion, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.”

²⁴Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”

⁹Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?

²⁴Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds!

²⁶Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

⁹He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.

²⁷All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.

²⁸When You give it to them, they gather it up; when You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good things.