| 章 |
| 38:1 |
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
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| 38:2 |
'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
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| 38:3 |
Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
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| 38:4 |
'Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
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| 38:5 |
Who determined its measurements -- surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
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| 38:6 |
On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,
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| 38:7 |
when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
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| 38:8 |
'Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the womb;
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| 38:9 |
when I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,
|
| 38:10 |
and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,
|
| 38:11 |
and said, Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed'?
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| 38:12 |
'Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,
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| 38:13 |
that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
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| 38:14 |
It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.
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| 38:15 |
From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken.
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| 38:16 |
'Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?
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| 38:17 |
Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
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| 38:18 |
Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.
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| 38:19 |
'Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,
|
| 38:20 |
that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?
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| 38:21 |
You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
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| 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 trouble, for the day of battle and war?
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| 38:24 |
What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
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| 38:25 |
'Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt,
|
| 38:26 |
to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man;
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| 38:27 |
to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?
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| 38:28 |
'Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?
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| 38:29 |
From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?
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| 38:30 |
The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
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| 38:31 |
'Can you bind the chains of the Plei'ades, or loose the cords of Orion?
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| 38:32 |
Can you lead forth the Maz'zaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?
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| 38:33 |
Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?
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| 38:34 |
'Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you?
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| 38:35 |
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, Here we are'?
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| 38:36 |
Who has put wisdom in the clouds, or given understanding to the mists?
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| 38:37 |
Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
|
| 38:38 |
when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cleave fast together?
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| 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, or lie in wait in their covert?
|
| 38:41 |
Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?
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