UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

$ cat ll.awk

BEGIN { C=split(LINES, A); }
NR==FNR { D[NR]=$0; next }
END {
        for(N=1; N<=COUNT; N++)
        {
                printf("%s", D[A[1]++]);
                for(X=2; X<=C; X++)
                        printf("\t%s", D[A[X]++]);

                printf("\n");
        }
}

$ head lines
line-1
line-2
line-3
line-4
line-5
line-6
line-7
line-8
line-9
line-10

$ awk -v COUNT=4 -v LINES="4 237 470 703 936 1169 1402" -f ll.awk lines
line-4  line-237        line-470        line-703        line-936        line-1169       line-1402
line-5  line-238        line-471        line-704        line-937        line-1170       line-1403
line-6  line-239        line-472        line-705        line-938        line-1171       line-1404
line-7  line-240        line-473        line-706        line-939        line-1172       line-1405

$