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38:1  Then the Lord answered Job from the ·storm [whirlwind; 9:17]. He said:
38:2  “Who is this that makes my ·purpose [L counsel; advice] ·unclear [L dark] ·by saying things that are not true [L with ignorant words]?
38:3  ·Be strong [Brace yourself; L Gird your loins] like a man! I will ask you questions, and you must ·answer [inform] me.
38:4  Where were you when I made the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
38:5  Who marked off ·how big it should be [L its measurements]? Surely you know! Who stretched a ·ruler [line; C surveyor’s instrument] across it?
38:6  What were the earth’s foundations ·set on [L sunk in], or who put its cornerstone in place
38:7  while the morning stars sang together and all the ·angels [L sons of god] shouted with joy?
38:8  “Who shut the doors to keep the sea in when it broke through ·and was born [L coming out of the womb],
38:9  when I made the clouds like a coat for the sea and ·wrapped [swaddled] it in dark clouds,
38:10  when I ·put [prescribed] ·limits [boundaries] on the sea and put its doors and bars in place,
38:11  when I said to the sea, ‘You may come this far, but no farther; this is where your proud waves must stop’?
38:12  “Have you ever ordered the morning to begin, or ·shown [informed] the dawn where its place was
38:13  in order to ·take hold of [grasp] the earth by its edges [C the horizon] and shake evil people out of it [C the light exposes the wicked]?
38:14  At dawn the earth changes like clay being pressed by a seal; ·the hills and valleys [L They] stand out like ·folds in a coat [L a garment].
38:15  Light is ·not given to [held back from] evil people; their arm is raised to do harm, but it is broken.
38:16  “Have you ever gone to ·where the sea begins [L the sources of the sea] or walked in the ·valleys under the sea [L depths of the deep]?
38:17  Have the gates of death been ·opened [or revealed] to you? Have you seen the gates of the deep darkness?
38:18  Do you understand how wide the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things.
38:19  “What is the path to light’s home, and where does darkness live?
38:20  Can you take them to their places? Do you know the ·way [path] to their homes?
38:21  Surely you know, if you were already born when all this happened! Have you lived that many years?
38:22  “Have you ever gone into the storehouse of the snow or seen the storehouses for hail,
38:23  which I save for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?
38:24  Where is the place from which light ·comes [L is distributed]? Where is the place from which the east winds ·blow [scatter] over the earth?
38:25  Who cuts a waterway for the heavy rains and sets a path for the thunderstorm?
38:26  Who waters the land where no one lives, the ·desert [wilderness] that has no one in it?
38:27  Who sends rain to satisfy the ·empty [L ruined and desolate] land so the grass begins to grow?
38:28  Does the rain have a father? Who ·is father [L has given birth] to the drops of dew?
38:29  ·Who is the mother of the ice [L From whose womb did the ice come out]? Who gives birth to the frost from the ·sky [heavens]
38:30  when the water becomes hard as stone, and even the surface of the ·ocean [deep] is frozen?
38:31  “Can you tie up the ·stars [L chains] of the Pleiades or ·loosen [open] the ·ropes of the stars in [L fetters of] Orion?
38:32  Can you bring out ·the stars [L Mazzeroth; C probably the name of a specific constellation] on time or lead out the stars of the Bear with its cubs?
38:33  Do you know the laws of the ·sky [heavens] and ·understand [or set] their rule over the earth?
38:34  “Can you ·shout an order [L raise your voice] to the clouds ·and [or so that you] cover yourself with a flood of water?
38:35  Can you send lightning bolts on their way? Do they come to you and say, ‘Here we are’?
38:36  Who put wisdom ·inside the mind [or in the ibis; C an animal associated with wisdom and representing Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom] or understanding ·in the heart [or to the rooster]?
38:37  Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can ·pour water from the jars [L tilt the wineskins] of the ·sky [heavens]
38:38  when the dust becomes hard and the clumps of dirt stick together?
38:39  “Do you hunt food for the lioness to satisfy the hunger of the young lions
38:40  while they ·lie [crouch] in their dens or hide in the bushes waiting to attack?
38:41  Who gives food to the ·birds [L raven] when their young cry out to God and wander about without food?