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God Speaks Now to Job

¹ Then the LORD ^(C1)answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

² "Who is this that ^(C1)darkens counsel questioning my authority and wisdom
By words without knowledge? ^(VR1)

³ "^(C1)Now ^(F1)gird up your loins like a man,
And ^(C2)I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

⁴ "Where were you ^(C1)when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know and have understanding.

⁵ "Who determined the ^(C1)measurements of the earth, if you know?
Or who stretched the measuring line on it?

⁶ "On what ^(C1)were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,

⁷ When the morning stars sang together
And all the ^(C1)sons of God (angels) shouted for joy?

⁸ "Or who ^(C1)enclosed the sea with doors
When it burst forth and went out of the womb;

⁹ When I made the clouds its garment
And thick darkness its swaddling band,

¹⁰ And ^(C1)marked for it My appointed boundary
And set bars and doors defining the shorelines, ^(VR1)

¹¹ And said, 'This far you shall come, but no farther;
And here your proud waves shall stop'? ^(VR1)

God's Mighty Power

¹² "Since your days began, have you ever commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place,

¹³ So that light may take hold of ^(C1)the corners of the earth
And shake ^(C2)the wickedness out of it?

¹⁴ "The earth is changed like clay into which a seal is pressed;
And the things of the earth stand out like a multi-colored garment.

¹⁵ "^(C1)Their light is withheld from the wicked,
And the ^(C2)uplifted arm is broken.

¹⁶ "Have you entered and explored ^(C1)the springs of the sea
Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?

¹⁷ "Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
Or have you seen the gates of ^(C1)deep darkness?

¹⁸ "Have you understood the expanse of ^(C1)the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.

¹⁹ "Where is the ^(F1)way where light dwells?
And as for darkness, where is its place,

²⁰ That you may take it to ^(C1)its territory
And that you may know the paths to its house?

²¹ "You must know, since ^(C1)you were born then,
And ^(F1)because you are so extremely old!

²² "Have you entered the storehouses ^(C1)of the snow,
Or have you seen the storehouses of the ^(C2)hail,

²³ Which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
For the day of battle and war? ^(VR1)

²⁴ "Where is the way that ^(C1)the light is distributed,
Or the east wind scattered over the earth?

²⁵ "Who has prepared a channel for the torrents of rain and for the flood,
Or a path for the thunderbolt,

²⁶ To bring ^(C1)rain on the uninhabited land,
And on the desert where no man lives,

²⁷ To ^(C1)satisfy the barren and desolate ground
And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

²⁸ "Has ^(C1)the rain a father?
Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

²⁹ "Out of whose womb has come the ^(C1)ice?
And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

³⁰ "Water becomes like stone and hides itself,
And the surface of the deep is frozen and imprisoned.

³¹ "Can you bind the chains of the cluster of stars called ^(C1)Pleiades,
Or loose the cords of the constellation Orion?

³² "Can you lead forth a ^(F1)constellation in its season,
And guide the stars of the Bear with her ^(F2)sons?

³³ "Do you know the ^(C1)ordinances of the heavens,
Or can you establish their rule over the earth?

³⁴ "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
So that an ^(C1)abundance of water will cover you?

³⁵ "Can you ^(C1)send forth lightnings that they may go
And say to you, 'Here we are'?

³⁶ "Who has ^(C1)put wisdom in the innermost being of man, or in the layers of clouds
Or given ^(C2)understanding to the mind of man, or to the heavenly display?

³⁷ "Who can count the clouds by earthly wisdom,
Or ^(C1)pour out the water jars of the heavens,

³⁸ When the dust hardens into a mass
And the clods stick together because of the heat?

³⁹ "Can you Job hunt the ^(C1)prey for the lion,
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions

⁴⁰ When they ^(C1)crouch in their dens
And lie in wait in their lair?

⁴¹ "Who provides prey for ^(C1)the raven
When its young cry to God
And wander about without food?