| Chapter 38 |
1 |
Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said :
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2 |
Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskillful words?
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3 |
Gird up thy loins like a man : I will ask thee, and answer thou me.
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4 |
Where wast thou when I laid up the foundations of the earth ? tell me if thou hast understanding.
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5 |
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
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6 |
Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner stone thereof,
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7 |
When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?
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8 |
Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing out of the womb :
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9 |
when I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a mist as in swaddling bands?
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10 |
I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors :
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11 |
And I said : Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves.
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12 |
Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place?
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13 |
And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it?
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14 |
The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment :
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15 |
From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high arm shall be broken.
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16 |
Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the lowest parts of the deep?
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17 |
Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors?
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18 |
Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things?
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19 |
Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place of darkness :
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20 |
That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof.
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21 |
Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born ? and didst thou know the number of thy days?
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22 |
Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or has thou beheld the treasures of the hail :
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23 |
Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war?
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24 |
By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the earth?
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25 |
Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy thunder :
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26 |
That it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth :
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27 |
That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and should bring forth green grass?
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28 |
Who is the father of rain ? or who begot the drops of dew?
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29 |
Out of whose womb came the ice; and the frost from heaven who hath gendered it?
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30 |
The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed.
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31 |
Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus?
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32 |
Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make the evening star to rise upon the children of the earth?
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33 |
Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth?
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34 |
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance of waters may cover thee?
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35 |
Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return and say to thee : Here we are?
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36 |
Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock understanding?
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37 |
Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep?
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38 |
When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods fastened together?
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39 |
Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of her whelps,
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40 |
When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes?
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41 |
Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry to God, wandering about, because they have no meat?
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