It is changed as clay under the seal, and presented as a garment.
Parallel translations
- KJV It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
- BSB The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
- NKJV It takes on form like clay under a seal, And stands out like a garment.
- NASB “It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand out like a garment.
- NLT As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
As morning light spreads, the earth's features take shape like clay pressed by a seal. Dawn brings form and definition to the world.
Overview
God describes how the rising light reveals the landscape, as a seal stamps an impression on clay. What was formless in the dark becomes vivid and distinct. The verse celebrates the daily wonder of light shaping the visible world, a wonder entirely God's doing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 38:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.