Study

38

Then the L ord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

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“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

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Gird up your loins like a man,

I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

 

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“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

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Who determined its measurements—surely you know!

Or who stretched the line upon it?

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On what were its bases sunk,

or who laid its cornerstone

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when the morning stars sang together

and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

 

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“Or who shut in the sea with doors

when it burst out from the womb?—

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when I made the clouds its garment,

and thick darkness its swaddling band,

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and prescribed bounds for it,

and set bars and doors,

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and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,

and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?

 

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“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,

and caused the dawn to know its place,

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so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,

and the wicked be shaken out of it?

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It is changed like clay under the seal,

and it is dyed like a garment.

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Light is withheld from the wicked,

and their uplifted arm is broken.

 

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“Have you entered into the springs of the sea,

or walked in the recesses of the deep?

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Have the gates of death been revealed to you,

or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

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Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?

Declare, if you know all this.

 

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“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,

and where is the place of darkness,

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that you may take it to its territory

and that you may discern the paths to its home?

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Surely you know, for you were born then,

and the number of your days is great!

 

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“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,

or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

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which I have reserved for the time of trouble,

for the day of battle and war?

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What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,

or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

 

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“Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain,

and a way for the thunderbolt,

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to bring rain on a land where no one lives,

on the desert, which is empty of human life,

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to satisfy the waste and desolate land,

and to make the ground put forth grass?

 

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“Has the rain a father,

or who has begotten the drops of dew?

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From whose womb did the ice come forth,

and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?

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The waters become hard like stone,

and the face of the deep is frozen.

 

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“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,

or loose the cords of Orion?

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Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,

or can you guide the Bear with its children?

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Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?

Can you establish their rule on the earth?

 

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“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,

so that a flood of waters may cover you?

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Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go

and say to you, ‘Here we are’?

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Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,

or given understanding to the mind?

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Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?

Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

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when the dust runs into a mass

and the clods cling together?

 

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“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,

or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

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when they crouch in their dens,

or lie in wait in their covert?

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Who provides for the raven its prey,

when its young ones cry to God,

and wander about for lack of food?