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“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
    Declare, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measures, if you know?
    Or who stretched the line on it?
What were its foundations fastened on?
    Or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together,
    and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

“Or who shut up the sea with doors,
    when it broke out of the womb,
when I made clouds its garment,
    and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 marked out for it my bound,
    set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘You may come here, but no further.
    Your proud waves shall be stopped here’?

12 “Have you commanded the morning in your days,
    and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 that it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
    and shake the wicked out of it?
14 It is changed as clay under the seal,
    and presented as a garment.
15 From the wicked, their light is withheld.
    The high arm is broken.

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Where were you when I established(A) the earth?
Tell me, if you have[a] understanding.
Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone
while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God(B) shouted for joy?

Who enclosed the sea behind doors
when it burst from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment
and total darkness its blanket,[b](C)
10 when I determined its boundaries[c]
and put its bars and doors in place,
11 when I declared, “You may come this far, but no farther;
your proud waves stop here”?

12 Have you ever in your life commanded the morning
or assigned the dawn its place,
13 so it may seize the edges of the earth
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth is changed as clay is by a seal;
its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
15 Light[d] is withheld from the wicked,
and the arm raised in violence is broken.

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Footnotes

  1. 38:4 Lit know
  2. 38:9 Lit swaddling clothes
  3. 38:10 Lit I broke my statute on it
  4. 38:15 Lit Their light