Then out of the storm the LORD spoke to Job.

The LORD

Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words? Stand up like a man and answer the questions I ask you. Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it. Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers? Who holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world? In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, and the heavenly beings shouted for joy.

Who closed the gates to hold back the sea when it burst from the womb of the earth? It was I who covered the sea with clouds and wrapped it in darkness. I marked a boundary for the sea and kept it behind bolted gates. It told it, "So far and no farther! Here your powerful waves must stop." Job, have you ever in all your life commanded a day to dawn? Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth and shake the wicked from their hiding places? Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out like the folds of a garment, clear as the imprint of a seal on clay. The light of day is too bright for the wicked and restrains them from doing violence.

Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea? Have you walked on the floor of the ocean? Has anyone ever shown you the gates that guard the dark world of the dead? Have you any idea how big the world is? Answer me if you know.

Job 38:1-18

God's work of creating is done;

our work of praising has just begun.

Our Daily Bread - July 9, 2002