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Job 38

¹Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

²Who is this that darkeneth counsel By words without knowledge?

³Gird up now thy loins like a man; For I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

⁴Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.

⁵Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched the line upon it?

⁶Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner-stone thereof,

⁷When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸Or [who] shut up the sea with doors, When it brake forth, [as if] it had issued out of the womb;

⁹When I made clouds the garment thereof, And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,

¹⁰And marked out for it my bound, And set bars and doors,

¹¹And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

¹²Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days [began], [And] caused the dayspring to know its place;

¹³That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?

¹⁴It is changed as clay under the seal; And [all things] stand forth as a garment:

¹⁵And from the wicked their light is withholden, And the high arm is broken.

¹⁶Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?

¹⁷Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

¹⁸Hast thou comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if thou knowest it all.

¹⁹Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof,

²⁰That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?

²¹[Doubtless], thou knowest, for thou wast then born, And the number of thy days is great!

²²Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow, Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

²³Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war?

²⁴By what way is the light parted, Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?

²⁵Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood, Or the way for the lightning of the thunder;

²⁶To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

²⁷To satisfy the waste and desolate [ground], And to cause the tender grass to spring forth?

²⁸Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

²⁹Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

³⁰The waters hide themselves [and become] like stone, And the face of the deep is frozen.

³¹Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the bands of Orion?

³²Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train?

³³Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?

³⁴Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover thee?

³⁵Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, And say unto thee, Here we are?

³⁶Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who hath given understanding to the mind?

³⁷Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,

³⁸When the dust runneth into a mass, And the clods cleave fast together?

³⁹Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

⁴⁰When they couch in their dens, [And] abide in the covert to lie in wait?

⁴¹Who provideth for the raven his prey, When his young ones cry unto God, [And] wander for lack of food?

Job 38 (ASV)

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Job

Chapter 38

38 of 42