Job 38
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Then YHWH answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
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Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
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Gird up now your loins like a man; For I will demand of you, and declare you to me.
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Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
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Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line upon it?
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Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid the corner-stone thereof,
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When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
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Or [who] shut up the sea with doors, When it brake forth, [as if] it had issued out
of the womb;
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When I made clouds its garment, And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,
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And marked out for it my bound, And set bars and doors,
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And said, Hitherto shall you come, but no further; And here shall your proud waves
be stayed?
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Have you commanded the morning since your days [began], [And] caused the dayspring
to know its place;
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That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of
it?
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It is changed as clay under the seal; And [all things] stand forth as a garment:
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And from the wicked their light is withholden, And the high arm is broken.
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Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of
the deep?
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Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow
of death?
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Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if you know it all.
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Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place
thereof,
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That you should take it to its bound, And that you should discern the paths
to its house?
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[Doubtless], you know, for you were then born, And the number of your days is great!
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Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, Or have you seen the treasures of the
hail,
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Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war?
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By what way is the light parted, Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?
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Who has cleft a channel for the waterflood, Or the way for the lightning of the thunder;
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To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, wherein there is
no man;
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To satisfy the waste and desolate [ground], And to cause the tender grass to spring
forth?
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Has the rain a father? Or who has engendered the drops of dew?
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Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who has gendered it?
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The waters hide themselves [and become] like stone, And the face of the deep is frozen.
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Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the bands of Orion?
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Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her
train?
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Know you the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion in
the earth?
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Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you?
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Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, Here we are?
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Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
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Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,
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When the dust runs into a mass, And the clods cleave fast together?
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Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
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When they couch in their dens, [And] abide in the covert to lie in wait?
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Who provides for the raven his prey, When his young ones cry to God, [And] wander
for lack of food?