On Scripture: Job 42

Job 42:1-6, 10-17

Then Job answered the LORD:

"I know that you can do all things,

and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

`Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?'

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

`Hear, and I will speak;

I will question you, and you declare to me.'

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye sees you;

therefore I despise myself,

and repent in dust and ashes."

And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children's children, four generations. And Job died, old and full of days.

On Scripture: Job 38

Job 38:1-7, (34-41)

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Gird up your loins like a man,

     I will question you, and you shall declare to me. 

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

    Tell me, if you have understanding. 

Who determined its measurements-- surely you know!

    Or who stretched the line upon it? 

On what were its bases sunk,

    or who laid its cornerstone 

when the morning stars sang together

    and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,

    so that a flood of waters may cover you?

Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go

    and say to you, `Here we are'?

Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,

    or given understanding to the mind?

Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?

    Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

when the dust runs into a mass

    and the clods cling together?

"Can you hunt the prey for the lion,

    or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

when they crouch in their dens,

    or lie in wait in their covert?

Who provides for the raven its prey,

    when its young ones cry to God,

    and wander about for lack of food?"