Job 38 Comparison: Catholic Public Domain vs KJV with Apocrypha

Job 38

¹But the Lord, responding to Job from a whirlwind, said:

²Who is this that wraps sentences in unskilled words?

³Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me.

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

⁵Who set its measurements, if you know, or who stretched a line over it?

⁶Upon what have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its cornerstone,

⁷when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful noise?

⁸Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if issuing from the womb,

⁹when I stationed a cloud as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an infant?

¹⁰I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned its bars and doors.

¹¹And I said: “This far you will approach, and you will proceed no further, and here you will break your swelling waves.”

¹²Did you, after your birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its place?

¹³And did you hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and have you shaken the impious out of it?

¹⁴The seal will be restored like clay, and it will remain in place like a garment.

¹⁵From the impious, the light will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken.

¹⁶Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you taken a walk in the uttermost parts of the abyss?

¹⁷Have the gates of death been opened to you, and have you seen the doors of darkness?

¹⁸Have you considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things, reveal them to me.

¹⁹Which is the way that holds the light, and which is the place of darkness?

²⁰In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house.

²¹So then, did you know when you were to be born? And did you know the number of your days?

²²Have you been admitted into the storehouses of the snows, and have you gazed upon the stockpile of the brimstone,

²³which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, for the day of the battle and the war?

²⁴In what way is the light scattered, and the heat distributed, over the earth?

²⁵Who gave a course to the rainstorms, and a path to the resounding thunder,

²⁶so that it would rain on the earth far from man, in the wilderness where no mortal lingers,

²⁷so that it would fill impassable and desolate places, and would bring forth green plants?

²⁸Who is the father of rain, or who conceived the drops of dew?

²⁹From whose womb did the ice proceed, and who created the frost from the air?

³⁰The waters are hardened to become like stone, and the surface of the abyss freezes over.

³¹Will you have the strength to join together the sparkling stars of the Pleiades, or are you able to disperse the circling of Arcturus?

³²Can you bring forth the morning star, in its time, and make the evening star rise over the sons of the earth?

³³Do you know the order of heaven, and can you explain its rules here on the earth?

³⁴Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an onslaught of waters will cover you?

³⁵Can you send forth lightning bolts, and will they go, and on returning, say to you: “Here we are?”

³⁶Who placed discernment in the guts of man, or who gave the rooster intelligence?

³⁷Who can describe the rules of the heavens, or who can put to rest the harmony of heaven?

³⁸When was the dust cast to become the earth, and when were its clods fastened together?

³⁹Will you seize prey for the lioness, and will you sustain the lives of her young,

⁴⁰as they rest in their dens or lie in wait in pits?

⁴¹Who provides the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as they wander around because they have no food?

Job 38

¹Then the Lord 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 answer thou me.

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

⁵Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

⁶Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

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

⁸Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

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

¹⁰And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,

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

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

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

¹⁴It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.

¹⁵And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.

¹⁶Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

¹⁷Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

¹⁸Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.

¹⁹Where is the way where light dwelleth? 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?

²¹Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?

²²Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures 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, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

²⁵Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;

²⁶To cause it to rain on the earth, 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 hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

³⁰The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

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

³²Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

³³Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set 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 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 heart?

³⁷Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,

³⁸When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?

³⁹Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill 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 food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.