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New American Bible 2002 11 11 IntraText - Text |
Chapter 38
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1 Then the LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said:
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Who is this that obscures divine plans with words of ignorance?
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2 Gird up your loins now, like a man; I will question you, and you tell me the answers!
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Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
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Who determined its size; do you know? Who stretched out the measuring line for it?
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Into what were its pedestals sunk, and who laid the cornerstone,
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3 While the morning stars sang in chorus and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
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And who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb;
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When I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
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When I set limits for it and fastened the bar of its door,
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And said: Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!
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Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place
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For taking hold of the ends of the earth, till the wicked are shaken from its surface?
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The earth is changed as is clay by the seal, and dyed as though it were a garment;
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But from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm of pride is shattered.
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Have you entered into the sources of the sea, or walked about in the depths of the abyss?
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Have the gates of death been shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness?
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Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me, if you know all:
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Which is the way to the dwelling place of light, and where is the abode of darkness,
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That you may take them to their boundaries and set them on their homeward paths?
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4 You know, because you were born before them, and the number of your years is great!
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5 Have you entered the storehouse of the snow, and seen the treasury of the hail
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Which I have reserved for times of stress, for the days of war and of battle?
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Which way to the parting of the winds, whence the east wind spreads over the earth?
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Who has laid out a channel for the downpour and for the thunderstorm a path
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To bring rain to no man's land, the unpeopled wilderness;
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To enrich the waste and desolate ground till the desert blooms with verdure?
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Has the rain a father; or who has begotten the drops of dew?
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Out of whose womb comes the ice, and who gives the hoarfrost its birth in the skies,
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When the waters lie covered as though with stone that holds captive the surface of the deep?
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6 Have you fitted a curb to the Pleiades, or loosened the bonds of Orion?
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Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or guide the Bear with its train?
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Do you know the ordinances of the heavens; can you put into effect their plan on the earth?
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7 Can you raise your voice among the clouds, or veil yourself in the waters of the storm?
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8 Can you send forth the lightnings on their way, or will they say to you, "Here we are"?
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Who counts the clouds in his wisdom? Or who tilts the water jars of heaven
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So that the dust of earth is fused into a mass and its clods made solid?
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Do you hunt the prey for the lioness or appease the hunger of her cubs,
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While they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in the thicket?
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9 Who puts wisdom in the heart, and gives the cock its understanding?
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Who provides nourishment for the ravens when their young ones cry out to God, and they rove abroad without food?