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1 THEN the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, | |
2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? | |
3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. | |
4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. | |
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? | |
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; | |
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? | |
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? | |
9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, | |
10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, | |
11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? | |
12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; | |
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? | |
14 It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment. | |
15 And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken. | |
16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? | |
17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? | |
18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. | |
19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, | |
20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? | |
21 Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? | |
22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, | |
23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? | |
24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth? | |
25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; | |
26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; | |
27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? | |
28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew? | |
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? | |
30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. | |
31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? | |
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? | |
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? | |
34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? | |
35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are? | |
36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart? | |
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, | |
38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? | |
39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, | |
40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? | |
41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat. | |