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38:1  Then from the heart of the storm the Lord answered Job:
38:2  “Who is this who obscures my intentions with words devoid of knowledge?
38:3  Gird up your loins now like a man. I will ask you questions, and you will give me the answers.
38:4  “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations? Tell me, if you have understanding.
38:5  Who determined its measurements? Do you know? Who stretched out the measuring line over it?
38:6  What supports the pillars at its bases? Who laid its cornerstone
38:7  while the morning stars sang in unison and the sons of God shouted for joy?
38:8  “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
38:9  when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,
38:10  when I established bounds for it and set its barred doors in place,
38:11  when I said, ‘This far may you come, but no farther; here is where your proud waves must halt’?
38:12  “During your entire life have you ever commanded the morning to appear or caused the dawn to rise in the east
38:13  so that it might grasp the ends of the earth and shake the wicked from its surface?
38:14  She turns it like clay under a seal and dyes it as though it were a garment.
38:15  But light is withheld from the wicked, and their raised arm is broken.
38:16  “Have you ever descended to the depths of the sea and walked at the bottom of the abyss?
38:17  Have the gates of death been revealed to you or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
38:18  Have you comprehended the vast expanse of the earth? Tell me if you know all this.
38:19  “Can you point out the way to the dwelling of light and show the abode of darkness,
38:20  so that you may assign each to its designated boundary and escort them on their homeward paths?
38:21  Surely you must know this, for you had already been born and the years of your life are beyond numbering!
38:22  “Have you entered the place where the snow is stored, or seen the storehouses of the hail,
38:23  which I have reserved for times of distress, for the times of war and battle?
38:24  Can you show me the place where lightning is dispersed or where the east wind is scattered over the earth?
38:25  “Who has cut a channel for the downpour of rain and cleared a path for the thunderstorm
38:26  so that rain may fall on uninhabited lands, on the wilderness devoid of human life,
38:27  and thus reinvigorate the wastes and the desolate land, enabling grass to sprout on the thirsty ground?
38:28  “Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew?
38:29  Whose womb brings forth the ice? Who gives birth to the frost of heaven,
38:30  causing a layer of stone to cover the waters and the surface of the earth to congeal?
38:31  “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the bonds of Orion?
38:32  Can you bring forth the constellations in their season or indicate which way to go to the Bear and its cubs?
38:33  Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you put into effect their rule on the earth?
38:34  “Can you raise up your voice to command the clouds to envelop you in a deluge of rain?
38:35  Will flashes of lightning come forth at your command and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
38:36  Who has endowed the heart with wisdom and given understanding to the mind?
38:37  Who can number all the rain clouds and empty the cisterns of the heavens
38:38  so that the dust solidifies into a thick mass and the clods of earth cling together?
38:39  “Can you hunt prey for the lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions
38:40  while they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in the bushes?
38:41  Who provides the raven with prey when its little ones cry out to God in their need for sustenance?