Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, JOB. THE INSCRUTABLE MYSTERY, by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

JOB. THE INSCRUTABLE MYSTERY, by                    
First Line: Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
Last Line: Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.
Variant Title(s): Voice Out Of The Whirlwind;then The Lord Answered
Subject(s): Religion; Theology


WHO is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer
thou me.
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou

hast understanding.
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched

the line upon it?
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner
stone thereof;
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 brake forth, as if it had issued

out of the womb?
When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling
band for it,
And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy
proud waves be stayed?
Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to

know his place;
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be

shaken out of it?
It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be
broken.
Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the
search of the depth?
Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors

of the shadow of death?
Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth; declare if thou knowest it
all.
Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the
place thereof.
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest
know the paths to the house thereof?
Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy

days is great?
Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the
treasures of the hail,
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of
battle and war?
By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the
earth?

KNOWEST thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou

mark when the hinds do calve?
Canst thou number the months that they fulfill? or knowest thou the time
when they bring forth?
They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their

sorrows.
Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth,

and return not unto them.
Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the
wild ass?
Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.
He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of
the driver.
The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every
green thing.
Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by the crib?
Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow

the valleys after thee?
Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy

labor to him?
Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into

thy barn?
Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto

the ostrich?
Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,
And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may
break them.
She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her
labor is in vain without fear:
Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her
understanding.
What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his
rider.
Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with
thunder?
Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is
terrible.
He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet

the armed men.
He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the

sword.
The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he
that it is the sound of the trumpet.
He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off,
the thunder of the captains and the shouting.
Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the
strong place.
From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.
Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.





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