What does Job 38-41 really mean?

¹ Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
² “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
³ Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
⁵ Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
⁶ On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
⁷ when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
⁸ “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
⁹ when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
¹⁰ and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors,
¹¹ and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
¹² “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
¹³ that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
¹⁴ It is changed like clay under the seal, and its features stand out like a garment.
¹⁵ “From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken.”
¹⁶ “Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?”
¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
¹⁸ Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
¹⁹ “Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,”
²⁰ that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?
²¹ You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
²² “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,”
²³ which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
²⁴ What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
²⁵ Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt,
²⁶ to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man,
²⁷ to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass?
²⁸ “Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?”
²⁹ “From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
³⁰ “The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.”
³¹ “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?”
³² “Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
³³ Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?
³⁴ “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
that a flood of waters may cover you?
³⁵ Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
³⁶ Who has put wisdom in the inward parts
or given understanding to the mind?
³⁷ Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
³⁸ “when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together?”
³⁹ “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their thicket?
⁴¹ Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?
¹ “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe the calving of the does?
² Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe the calving of the does?
³ Do you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth,
⁴ Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open; they go out and do not return to them.
⁵ “Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
⁶ to the wild donkey the wilderness is his home, and the salt land his dwelling place.
⁷ He scorns the tumult of the city;
he hears not the shouts of the driver.
⁸ He ranges the mountains as his pasture, and he searches after every green thing.
⁹ “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
Will he spend the night at your manger?
¹⁰ Can you bind the wild ox to his furrow with ropes,
or will he harrow the valleys after you?
¹¹ Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
¹² Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
¹³ “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love?”
¹⁴ For she leaves her eggs to the earth and lets them be warmed on the ground,
¹⁵ She forgets that a foot may crush them and that the wild beast may trample them.
¹⁶ She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers; though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear,
¹⁷ because God has made her forget wisdom
and given her no share in understanding.
¹⁸ When she rouses herself to flee, she laughs at the horse and his rider.
¹⁹ “Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
²⁰ Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrifying.
²¹ It paws in the valley and exults in its strength; it goes out to meet the weapons.
²² He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
he does not turn back from the sword.
²³ “The quiver rattles against him,
the flashing spear and javelin.
²⁴ He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
he does not turn back from the sword.
²⁵ As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’ and he smells the battle from afar, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
²⁶ “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south?
²⁷ Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?
²⁸ On the rock it dwells and makes its home,
on the rocky crag and stronghold.
²⁹ From there it spies out the prey; its eyes behold it from far away.
³⁰ His young ones suck up blood,
and where the slain are, there is he.”
¹ And the Lord said to Job:
² “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
³ Then Job answered the Lord:
⁴ “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
⁵ I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
twice, but I will proceed no further.”
⁶ Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
⁷ “Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
⁸ Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
⁹ Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
¹⁰ “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor.”
¹¹ “Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.”
¹² Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
and tread down the wicked where they stand.
¹³ Hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.
¹⁴ Then I will also praise you, for your own right hand can save you.
¹⁵ “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox.
¹⁶ Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
¹⁷ He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
¹⁸ His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
¹⁹ “He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!”
²⁰ “Surely the mountains yield food for him, where all the wild beasts play.”
²¹ Under the lotus plants he lies, in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
²² The lotus trees cover him with their shade; the willows of the brook surround him.
²³ Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
²⁴ Can one take him by his eyes,
or pierce his nose with a snare?
²⁵ “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
or press down his tongue with a cord?
²⁶ “Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
and tread down the wicked where they stand.”
²⁷ Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox.
²⁸ The light is dark in his tent, and his lamp above him is put out.
²⁹ Behold, Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
³⁰ Behold, the Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox.
³¹ He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
³² He makes a path shine after him; one would think the deep to be white-haired.
¹ “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?”
² Can you put a rope in his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
³ Will he make many pleas to you?
Will he speak to you soft words?
⁴ Will he make many pleas to you?
Will he speak to you soft words?
⁵ Will you play with him as with a bird,
or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
⁶ Will traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
⁷ Can you fill his skin with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
⁸ His back is made of rows of shields,
shut up closely as with a seal,
⁹ Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him.
¹⁰ No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.
¹¹ Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
¹² “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
¹³ Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle?
¹⁴ Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.
¹⁵ His back is made of rows of shields,
shut up closely as with a seal.
¹⁶ His sneezings flash forth light,
and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
¹⁷ They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
¹⁸ Its sneezings flash forth light, and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
¹⁹ Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth.
²⁰ Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
²¹ His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes out of his mouth.
²² In his neck abides strength,
and terror dances before him.
²³ The folds of his flesh stick together,
firmly cast on him and immovable.
²⁴ His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone.
²⁵ When it raises itself up, the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves.
²⁶ “Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.”