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Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
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"Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
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Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
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"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
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Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
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On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone -
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while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels 1 shouted for joy?
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"Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
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when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
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when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
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when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt'?
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"Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
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that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
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The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
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The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
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"Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
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Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
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Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
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"What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
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Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
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Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
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"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
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which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
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What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
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Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
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to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
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to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
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Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
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From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
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when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
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"Can you bind the chains 2 of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion's belt?
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Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons 3
or lead out the Bear 4 with its cubs?
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Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God's 5 dominion over the earth?
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"Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
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Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?
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Who gives the ibis wisdom 6
or gives the rooster understanding? 7
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Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
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when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
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"Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
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when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
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Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
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"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
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Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
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They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
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Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
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"Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
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I gave it the wasteland as its home,
the salt flats as its habitat.
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It laughs at the commotion in the town;
it does not hear a driver's shout.
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It ranges the hills for its pasture
and searches for any green thing.
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"Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will it stay by your manger at night?
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Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
Will it till the valleys behind you?
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Will you rely on it for its great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to it?
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Can you trust it to haul in your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
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"The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
though they cannot compare
with the wings and feathers of the stork.
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She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
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unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.
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She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
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for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.
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Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.
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"Do you give the horse its strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
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Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
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It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
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It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
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The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
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In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
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At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, 'Aha!'
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
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"Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?
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Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?
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It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is its stronghold.
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From there it looks for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.
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Its young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there it is."
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The Lord said to Job:
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"Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!"