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- And Jehovah 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;
and I will demand of thee, and inform thou me.
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- Where wast thou when I founded the earth?
Declare, if thou hast understanding.
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- Who set the measures thereof — if thou knowest?
or who stretched a line upon it?
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- Whereupon were the foundations thereof sunken?
or who laid its corner-stone,
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- When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
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- And who shut up the sea with doors, when it burst forth, issuing out of the womb?
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- When I made the cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it;
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- When I cut out for it my boundary, and set bars and doors,
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- And said, Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
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- Hast thou since thy days commanded the morning?
hast thou caused the dawn to know its place,
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- That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked might be shaken out of it?
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- It is changed like the signet-clay;
and [all things] stand forth as in a garment:
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- And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the uplifted arm is broken.
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- Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea?
and hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?
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- Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?
and hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
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- Hath thine understanding compassed the breadths of the earth?
Declare if thou knowest it all.
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- Where is the way to where light dwelleth?
and the darkness, where is its place,
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- That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths to its house?
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- Thou knowest, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!
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- Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, and hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,
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- Which I have reserved for the time of distress, for the day of battle and war?
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- By what way is the light parted, [and] the east wind scattered upon the earth?
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- Who hath divided a channel for the rain-flood, and a way for the thunder's flash;
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- To cause it to rain on the earth, where no one is;
on the wilderness wherein there is not a man;
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- To satisfy the desolate and waste [ground], and to cause the sprout of the grass to spring forth?
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- Hath the rain a father?
or who begetteth the drops of dew?
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- Out of whose womb cometh the ice?
and the hoary frost of heaven, who bringeth it forth?
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- When the waters lie hidden as in stone, and the face of the deep holdeth fast together.
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- Canst thou fasten the bands of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?
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- Dost thou bring forth the constellations each in its season?
or dost thou guide the Bear with her sons?
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- Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens?
dost thou determine their rule over the earth?
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- Dost thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that floods of waters may cover thee?
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- Dost 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 numbereth the clouds with wisdom?
or who poureth out the bottles of the heavens,
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- When the dust runneth as into a molten mass, and the clods cleave fast together?
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- Dost thou hunt the prey for the lioness, and dost thou satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
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- When they crouch in [their] dens, [and] abide in the thicket to lie in wait?
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- Who provideth for the raven his food, when his young ones cry unto God, [and] they wander for lack of meat?
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