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- Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
- "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
- Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
- "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
- Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
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- Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
- Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
- Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
- Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
- Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
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- On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-
- while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
- "Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
- when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,
- when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,
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- Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
- When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
- Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
- When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,
- And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
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- when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?
- "Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,
- that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
- The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.
- The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.
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- And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
- Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
- That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
- It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
- And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.
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- "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?
- Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death ?
- Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
- "What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?
- Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
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- Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
- Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
- Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.
- Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
- That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?
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- Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!
- "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,
- which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?
- What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
- Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
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- Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?
- Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
- Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
- By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
- Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
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- to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it,
- to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?
- Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?
- From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
- when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?
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- To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
- To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
- Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
- Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
- The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
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- "Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?
- Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
- Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?
- "Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?
- Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?
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- Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
- Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
- Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
- Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
- Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go and say unto thee, Here we are?
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- Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind ?
- Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
- when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?
- "Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
- when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
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- Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?
- Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
- When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
- Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
- When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
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- Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?
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- Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
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