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"Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
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Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
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"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
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Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
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To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
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When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
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"Or who shut in the sea with doors, When it burst forth and issued from the womb;
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When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band;
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When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors;
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When I said, 'This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!'
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"Have you commanded the morning since your days began, And caused the dawn to know its place,
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That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?
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It takes on form like clay under a seal, And stands out like a garment.
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From the wicked their light is withheld, And the upraised arm is broken.
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"Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths?
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Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
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Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.
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"Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,
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That you may take it to its territory, That you may know the paths to its home?
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Do you know it, because you were born then, Or because the number of your days is great?
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"Have you entered the treasury of snow, Or have you seen the treasury of hail,
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Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war?
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By what way is light diffused, Or the east wind scattered over the earth?
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"Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, Or a path for the thunderbolt,
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To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man;
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To satisfy the desolate waste, And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass?
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Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
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From whose womb comes the ice? And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth?
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The waters harden like stone, And the surface of the deep is frozen.
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"Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion?
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Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?