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The Book of Job, Chapter 38
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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
answer thou me.
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Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
declare, if thou hast understanding.
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Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath
stretched the line upon it?
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Whereupon are 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 brake forth, as if it
had 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 brake up
for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
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And said,
Hitherto 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; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
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That it might
take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken
out of it?
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It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as
a garment.
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And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm
shall be broken.
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Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou
walked in the search of the depth?
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Have the gates of death been
opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
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Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou
knowest it all.
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Where is the way where light dwelleth? 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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Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or
because the number of thy days is great?
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Hast thou entered into
the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures 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,
which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
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Who hath divided
a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the
lightning of thunder;
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To cause it to rain on the earth, 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 hoary
frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
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The waters are hid as
with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
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Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the
bands of Orion?
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Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?
or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
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Knowest thou the
ordinances of heaven? canst thou set 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 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
heart?
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Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the
bottles of heaven,
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38 |
When the dust groweth into hardness, and the
clods cleave fast together?
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Wilt thou hunt the prey for the
lion? or fill 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 food? when his young ones cry unto God,
they wander for lack of meat.
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