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Where were you when I made the earth’s foundation?
    Tell me, if you understand.
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?
What were the earth’s foundations ·set on [L sunk in],
    or who put its cornerstone in place
while the morning stars sang together
    and all the ·angels [L sons of god] shouted with joy?

“Who shut the doors to keep the sea in
    when it broke through ·and was born [L coming out of the womb],
when I made the clouds like a coat for the sea
    and ·wrapped [swaddled] it in dark clouds,
10 when I ·put [prescribed] ·limits [boundaries] on the sea
    and put its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said to the sea, ‘You may come this far, but no farther;
    this is where your proud waves must stop’?

12 “Have you ever ordered the morning to begin,
    or ·shown [informed] the dawn where its place was
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]?
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].
15 Light is ·not given to [held back from] evil people;
    their arm is raised to do harm, but it is broken.

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“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know and have understanding.

“Who determined the measurements [of the earth], if you know?
Or who stretched the [measuring] line on it?

“On what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,

When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God (angels) shouted for joy?


“Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When it burst forth and went out of the womb;

When I made the clouds its garment
And thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 
And marked for it My [appointed] boundary
And set bars and doors [defining the shorelines],(A)
11 
And said, ‘This far you shall come, but no farther;
And here your proud waves shall stop’?(B)

God’s Mighty Power

12 
Since your days began, have you ever commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place,
13 
So that light may take hold of the corners of the earth
And shake the wickedness out of it?
14 
“The earth is changed like clay into which a seal is pressed;
And the things [of the earth] stand out like a [multi-colored] garment.
15 
“Their light is withheld from the wicked,
And the uplifted arm is broken.

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