Job 38:1-41
The LORD Challenges Job

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

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2 Who [is] this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

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

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4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, 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 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

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

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8 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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9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

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10 And brake up for it my decreed [place], and set bars and doors,

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

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12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; [and] caused the dayspring to know his place;

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

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14 It is turned as clay [to] the seal; and they stand as a garment.

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

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16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

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17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

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18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.

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19 Where [is] the way [where] light dwelleth? and [as for] darkness, where [is] the place thereof,

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20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths [to] the house thereof?

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21 Knowest thou [it], because thou wast then born? or [because] the number of thy days [is] great?

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22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

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

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24 By what way is the light parted, [which] scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

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25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;

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26 To cause it to rain on the earth, [where] no man [is; on] the wilderness, wherein [there is] no man;

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27 To satisfy the desolate and waste [ground]; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

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

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

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30 The waters are hid as [with] a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

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31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

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32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

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33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?

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

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35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we [are]?

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36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?

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37 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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39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,

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

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41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

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