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For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores.
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I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’
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“Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
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Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
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As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors.
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The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence.
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“Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths?
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Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
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Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!
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“Where does light come from, and where does darkness go?
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Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?
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But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!
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“Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail?
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(I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.)
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Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind?
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“Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?
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Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?
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Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up?
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“Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew?
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Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?
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For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes.
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“Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?
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Can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
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Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?
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“Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?
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Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct?
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Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind?
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Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
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when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods?
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“Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions’ appetites
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as they lie in their dens or crouch in the thicket?