1Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,
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2“Who is this who darkens counsel
- by words without knowledge?
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3Brace yourself like a man,
- for I will question you, then you answer me!
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4“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
- Declare, if you have understanding.
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5Who determined its measures, if you know?
- Or who stretched the line on it?
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6Whereupon were its foundations fastened?
- Or who laid its cornerstone,
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7when the morning stars sang together,
- and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
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8“Or who shut up the sea with doors,
- when it broke forth from the womb,
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9when I made clouds its garment,
- and wrapped it in thick darkness,
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10marked out for it my bound,
- set bars and doors,
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11and said, ‘Here you may come, but no further.
- Here your proud waves shall be stayed?’
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12“Have you commanded the morning in your days,
- and caused the dawn to know its place;
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13that it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
- and shake the wicked out of it?
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14It is changed as clay under the seal,
- and stands forth as a garment.
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15From the wicked, their light is withheld.
- The high arm is broken.
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16“Have you entered into the springs of the sea?
- Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
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17Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
- Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
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18Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth?
- Declare, if you know it all.
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19“What is the way to the dwelling of light?
- As for darkness, where is its place,
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20that you should take it to its bound,
- that you should discern the paths to its house?
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21Surely you know, for you were born then,
- and the number of your days is great!
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22Have you entered the treasuries of the snow,
- or have you seen the treasures of the hail,
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23which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
- against the day of battle and war?
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24By what way is the lightning distributed,
- or the east wind scattered on the earth?
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25Who has cut a channel for the flood water,
- or the path for the thunderstorm;
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26To cause it to rain on a land where no man is;
- on the wilderness, in which there is no man;
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27to satisfy the waste and desolate ground,
- to cause the tender grass to spring forth?
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28Does the rain have a father?
- Or who fathers the drops of dew?
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29Out of whose womb came the ice?
- The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it?
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30The waters become hard like stone,
- when the surface of the deep is frozen.
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31“Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
- or loosen the cords of Orion?
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32Can you lead forth the constellations in their season?
- Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
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33Do you know the laws of the heavens?
- Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
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34“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
- That abundance of waters may cover you?
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35Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go?
- Do they report to you, ‘Here we are?’
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36Who has put wisdom in the inward parts?
- Or who has given understanding to the mind?
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37Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
- Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky,
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38when the dust runs into a mass,
- and the clods of earth stick together?
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39“Can you hunt the prey for the lioness,
- or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
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40when they crouch in their dens,
- and lie in wait in the thicket?
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41Who provides for the raven his prey,
- when his young ones cry to God,
- and wander for lack of food?