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?
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