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Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
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Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
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Gird up now thy loins like a man;
for I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto Me.
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Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, if thou hast the understanding.
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Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest?
Or who stretched the line upon it?
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Whereupon were the foundations thereof 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 broke forth, and issued out of the womb;
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When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,
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And prescribed for it My decree, and set bars and doors,
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And said: "Thus far shalt thou come, but no further;
and here shall thy proud waves be stayed"?
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Hast thou commanded the morning since thy 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 they stand as a garment.
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But from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm is broken.
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Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?
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Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?
Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
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Hast thou surveyed unto the breadths of the earth?
Declare, if thou knowest 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 thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?
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Thou knowest it, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!
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Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow, or hast thou seen the treasuries 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 hath cleft a channel for the waterflood, or a 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 desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
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Hath the rain a father?
Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
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Out of whose womb came the ice?
And the hoar-frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
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The waters are congealed like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
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Canst thou bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
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Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season?
Or canst thou guide the Bear with her sons?
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Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens?
Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?
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Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
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Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee: "Here we are"?
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Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?
Or who hath 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 runneth into a mass, and the clods cleave fast together?
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Wilt thou 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 provideth for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry unto God, and wander for lack of food?