8 Then the animals go into their lairs and remain in their dens.
9 From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds.
10 By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.
11 He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning.
12 They turn round and round by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.
13 Whether for correction, or for his land, or for love, he causes it to happen.
14 “Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God.
15 Do you know how God lays his command upon them, and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
16 Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of the one whose knowledge is perfect,
17 you whose garments are hot when the earth is still because of the south wind?
18 Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a molten mirror?
19 Teach us what we shall say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.
20 Should he be told that I want to speak? Did anyone ever wish to be swallowed up?
21 Now, no one can look on the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them.
22 Out of the north comes golden splendor; around God is awesome majesty.
23 The Almighty—we cannot find him; he is great in power and justice, and abundant righteousness he will not violate.
24 Therefore mortals fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”
Job 38
38 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the womb?—
9 when I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?
12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.
15 Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken.
16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.
19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,
20 that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21 Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?
24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
25 “Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt,
26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life,
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?
28 “Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?
30 The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert?
41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?
Job 39
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer?
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give brith,
3 when they crouch to give birth to their offspring, and are delivered of their young?
4 Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open; they go forth, and do not return to them.
5 “Who has let the wild ass go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
6 to which I have given the steppe for its home, and the salt land for its dwelling place?
7 It scorns the tumult of the city; it does not hear the shouts of the driver.
8 It ranges the mountains as its pasture, and it searches after every green thing.
9 “Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your crib?
10 Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes, or will it harrow the valleys after you?
11 Will you depend on it because its strength is great, and will you hand over your labor to it?
12 Do you have faith in it that it will return, and bring your grain to your threshing floor?
13 “The ostrich’s wings flap wildly; thought its pinions lack plumage?
14 For it leaves its eggs to the earth, and lets them be warmed on the ground,
15 forgetting that a foot may crush them, and that the wild animal may trample them.
16 It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own; though its labor be in vain, yet it has no fear;
17 because God has made it forget wisdom, and given it no share in understanding.
18 When it spreads its plumes aloft, it laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its might? Do you clothe its neck with mane?
20 Do you make it leap like the locust? Its majestic snorting is terrible.
21 It paws violently, exults mightily; it goes out to meet the weapons.
22 It laughs at fear, and is not dismayed; it does not turn back from the sword.
23 Upon it rattle the quiver, the flashing spear, and the javelin.
24 With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground; it cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
25 When the trumpet sounds, it says ‘Aha!’ From a distance it smells the battle, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes its nest on high?
28 It lives on the rock and makes its home in the
fastness of the rocky crag.
29 From there it spies the prey; its eyes see it from far away.
30 Its young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there it is.”
Job 40
40 And the LORD said to Job:
2 “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Anyone who argues with God must respond.”
3 Then Job answered the LORD:
4 “See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.”
6 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
7 “Gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you declare to me.
8 Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified?
9 Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 “Deck yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11 Pour forth the overflowings of your anger, and look on all who are proud, and abase him.
12 Look on all who are proud, and bring them low; tread down the wicked where they stand.
13 Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below.
14 Then will I also acknowledge to you, that your own right hand can give you victory.
15 “Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you; it eats grass like an ox.
16 Its strength is in its loins, and its power in the muscles of its belly.
17 It makes its tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are knit together.
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like bars of iron.
19 “It is the first of the great acts of God— only its Maker can approach it with the sword!
20 For the mountains yield food for it where all the wild animals play.
21 Under the lotus plants it lies, in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.
22 The lotus trees cover it for shade; the willows of the wadi surround it.
23 Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened; it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.
24 Can one take it with hooks, or pierce its nose with a snare?
Job 41
41 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down its tongue with a cord?
2 Can you put a rope in its nose, or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it make many supplications to you? Will it speak soft words to you?
4 Will it make a covenant with you to be taken as your servant forever?
5 Will you play with it as with a bird, or will you put it on leash for your maidens?
6 Will traders bargain over it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its skin with harpoons, or its head with fishing spears?
8 Lay hands on it; think of the battle; you will not do it again!
9 Any hope of capturing it will be disappointed; were not even the gods overwhelmed at the sight of it?
10 No one is so fierce as to dare to stir it up. Who can stand before it?
11 Who can confront it and be safe? —under the whole heaven, who?
12 “I will not keep silence concerning its limbs, or its mighty strength, or its splendid frame.
13 Who can strip off its outer garment? Who can penetrate its double coat of mail?
14 Who can open the doors of its face? There is terror all around its teeth.
15 Its back is made of shields in rows, shut up closely as with a seal.
16 One is so near to another that no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 It sneezes flash forth light, and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
19 From its mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth.
20 Out of its nostrils comes smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 Its breath kindles coals, and a flame comes out of its mouth.
22 In its neck abides strength, and terror dances before it.
23 The folds of its flesh cling together, it is firmly cast and immovable.
24 Its heart is hard as stone, as hard as the lower millstone.
25 When it raises itself up the gods are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26 Though the sword reaches it, it does not avail; nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 It counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make it flee; slingstones, for it, are turned to chaff.
29 Clubs are counted as chaff; it laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30 Its underparts are like sharp potsherds; it spreads itself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 It makes the deep boil like a pot; it makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 It leaves a shining wake behind; one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33 On earth it has no equal, a creature without fear.
34 It surveys everything that is lofty; it is king over all that are proud.”
Job 42
42 Then Job answered the LORD:
2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.’
5 I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
7 After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.
8 Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
10 And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
11 Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.
12 The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys.
13 He had also seven sons and three daughters.
14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the second Keziah; and the third Keren-happuch.
15 In all the land there were no women so fair as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16 After this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his ychildren, and his childrens’ children, four generations.
17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days.
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Hosea 2.14-20
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
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