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38:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 38:2 "Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? 38:3 "Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me! 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, 38:5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 38:6 "On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, 38:7 When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy? 38:8 "Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; 38:9 When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, 38:10 And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, 38:11 And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop'? 38:12 "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place, 38:13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it? 38:14 "It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment. 38:15 "From the wicked their light is withheld, And the uplifted arm is broken. 38:16 "Have you entered into the springs of the sea Or walked in the recesses of the deep? 38:17 "Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? 38:18 "Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. 38:19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place, 38:20 That you may take it to its territory And that you may discern the paths to its home? 38:21 "You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great! 38:22 "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, 38:23 Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle? 38:24 "Where is the way that the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth? 38:25 "Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt, 38:26 To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it, 38:27 To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout? 38:28 "Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? 38:29 "From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth? 38:30 "Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned. 38:31 "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion? 38:32 "Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites? 38:33 "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth? 38:34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you? 38:35 "Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'? 38:36 "Who has put wisdom in the innermost being Or given understanding to the mind? 38:37 "Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or tip the water jars of the heavens, 38:38 When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together? 38:39 "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 38:40 When they crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair? 38:41 "Who prepares for the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?