The Tanakh · JPS 1917 Translation

Job 38

Jewish Publication Society 1917 · Ketuvim — the Writings

Job chapter 38 — part of the Ketuvim — the Writings in the Jewish Bible. In the classic JPS 1917 translation it opens: “Then HaShem answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:” — the complete text of all 41 verses is below, free to read online.

1Then HaShem answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:

2Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

3Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto Me.

4Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast the understanding.

5Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched the line upon it?

6Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner-stone thereof,

7When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of G-d shouted for joy?

8Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth, and issued out of the womb;

9When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

10And prescribed for it My decree, and set bars and doors,

11And said: 'Thus far shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed'?

12Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began, and caused the dayspring to know its place;

13That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

14It is changed as clay under the seal; and they stand as a garment.

15But from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm is broken.

16Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?

17Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

18Hast thou surveyed unto the breadths of the earth? Declare, if thou knowest it all.

19Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and as for darkness, where is the place thereof;

20That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

21Thou knowest it, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!

22Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow, or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,

23Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

24By what way is the light parted, or the east wind scattered upon the earth?

25Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood, or a way for the lightning of the thunder;

26To cause it to rain on a land where no man is, on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

27To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

28Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

29Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoar-frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

30The waters are congealed like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

31Canst thou bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

32Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or canst thou guide the Bear with her sons?

33Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?

34Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

35Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee: 'Here we are'?

36Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who hath given understanding to the mind?

37Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,

38When the dust runneth into a mass, and the clods cleave fast together?

39Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lioness? Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

41Who provideth for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry unto G-d, and wander for lack of food?

41 verses · JPS 1917 (public domain)

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