Bible in Basic English
Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge?
Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.
Where were you when I put the earth on its base? Say, if you have knowledge.
By whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom; or by whom was the line stretched out over it?
On what were its pillars based, or who put down its angle-stone,
When the morning stars made songs together, and all the sons of the gods gave cries of joy?
Or where were you when the sea came to birth, pushing out from its secret place;
When I made the cloud its robe, and put thick clouds as bands round it,
Ordering a fixed limit for it, with locks and doors;
And said, So far you may come, and no farther; and here the pride of your waves will be stopped?
Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;
So that it might take a grip of the skirts of the earth, shaking all the evil-doers out of it?
It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.
Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places of the deep?
Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?
Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.
Which is the way to the resting-place of the light, and where is the store-house of the dark;
So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house?
No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.
Have you come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,
Which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and fighting?
Which is the way to the place where the wind is measured out, and the east wind sent out over the earth?
By whom has the way been cut for the flowing of the rain, and the flaming of the thunder;
Causing rain to come on a land where no man is living, on the waste land which has no people;
To give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass?
Has the rain a father? or who gave birth to the drops of night mist?
Out of whose body came the ice? and who gave birth to the cold mist of heaven?
The waters are joined together, hard as a stone, and the face of the deep is covered.
Are the bands of the Pleiades fixed by you, or are the cords of Orion made loose?
Do you make Mazzaroth come out in its right time, or are the Bear and its children guided by you?
Have you knowledge of the laws of the heavens? did you give them rule over the earth?
Is your voice sent up to the cloud, so that you may be covered by the weight of waters?
Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?
Who has put wisdom in the high clouds, or given knowledge to the lights of the north?
By whose wisdom are the clouds numbered, or the water-skins of the heavens turned to the earth,
When the earth becomes hard as metal, and is joined together in masses?
Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,
When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood?
Who gives in the evening the meat he is searching for, when his young ones are crying to God; when the young lions with loud noise go wandering after their food?
— Job 38:2-1964, Bible in Basic English
“Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment. And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken. Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth? Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew? Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are? Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart? Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat. ”
And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge?
Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.
Where were you when I put the earth on its base? Say, if you have knowledge.
By whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom; or by whom was the line stretched out over it?
On what were its pillars based, or who put down its angle-stone,
When the morning stars made songs together, and all the sons of the gods gave cries of joy?
Or where were you when the sea came to birth, pushing out from its secret place;
When I made the cloud its robe, and put thick clouds as bands round it,
Ordering a fixed limit for it, with locks and doors;
And said, So far you may come, and no farther; and here the pride of your waves will be stopped?
Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;
So that it might take a grip of the skirts of the earth, shaking all the evil-doers out of it?
It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.
Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places of the deep?
Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?
Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.
Which is the way to the resting-place of the light, and where is the store-house of the dark;
So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house?
No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.
Have you come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,
Which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and fighting?
Which is the way to the place where the wind is measured out, and the east wind sent out over the earth?
By whom has the way been cut for the flowing of the rain, and the flaming of the thunder;
Causing rain to come on a land where no man is living, on the waste land which has no people;
To give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass?
Has the rain a father? or who gave birth to the drops of night mist?
Out of whose body came the ice? and who gave birth to the cold mist of heaven?
The waters are joined together, hard as a stone, and the face of the deep is covered.
Are the bands of the Pleiades fixed by you, or are the cords of Orion made loose?
Do you make Mazzaroth come out in its right time, or are the Bear and its children guided by you?
Have you knowledge of the laws of the heavens? did you give them rule over the earth?
Is your voice sent up to the cloud, so that you may be covered by the weight of waters?
Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?
Who has put wisdom in the high clouds, or given knowledge to the lights of the north?
By whose wisdom are the clouds numbered, or the water-skins of the heavens turned to the earth,
When the earth becomes hard as metal, and is joined together in masses?
Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,
When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood?
Who gives in the evening the meat he is searching for, when his young ones are crying to God; when the young lions with loud noise go wandering after their food?