約伯記 38
1 上主由旋風中向約伯發言說：
Then spake Jehovah to Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
2 用無知的話，使我的計劃模糊不明的是誰﹖
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
3 你要像勇士束好你的腰，我要問你，請指教我!
Gird up thy loins like a man! I will ask thee, and answer thou me!
4 我奠定大地的基礎時，你在那裏﹖你若聰明，儘管說罷!
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding!
5 你知道是誰制定了地的度量，是誰在地上拉了準繩﹖
Who fixed its dimensions, that thou shouldst know it! Or who stretched out the line upon it?
6 地的基礎置在何處，是誰立了地的角石﹖
Upon what were its foundations fixed? And who laid its corner-stone,
7 當時星辰一起歌詠，天主的眾子同聲歡呼!
When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 海水洶湧如出母胎時，是誰用門將海關閉﹖
And who shut up the sea with doors, When it burst forth as from the womb?
9 是我用雲彩作海的衣裳，用濃霧作海的襁褓。
When I made the clouds its mantle, And thick darkness its swaddling-band;
10 是我給海劃定了界限，設立了門和閂，
When I appointed for it my bound, And fixed for it bars and doors;
11 並下令說：「你到此為止，不得越過；你的狂潮到此為止。」
And said, Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther, And here shall thy proud waves be stayed!
12 你有生之日，何嘗給晨光出過命令，又何嘗使曙光知道它之所在﹖
Hast thou, in thy life, given charge to the morning, Or caused the day-spring to know its place,
13 何嘗使光握緊大地四角，將惡人從那裏抖出去﹖
That it should lay hold of the ends of the earth, And shake the wicked out of it?
14 曙光改變大地，如在膠泥上蓋印；使萬物出現，如著錦衣；
It is changed as clay by the seal; And all things stand forth as in rich apparel.
15 撤去惡人的光明，折斷高舉的手。
But from the wicked their light is withheld, And the high-raised arm is broken.
16 你曾否到過海的源流，走過深淵的底處﹖
Hast thou visited the springs of the sea, And walked through the recesses of the deep?
17 死亡的門給你開啟過嗎﹖你見過死影之門嗎﹖
Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee, And hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18 你知道大地的廣闊嗎﹖你若知道，請你說罷!
Hast thou surveyed the breadth of the earth? Declare, if thou knowest it all!
19 赴光明之所的路是那一條，黑暗的住處在那裏﹖
Where is the way to the abode of light? And darkness—where is its dwelling-place?
20 你知道如何引導黑暗到自己的境地，領黑暗回到自己居所的道路上嗎﹖
That thou shouldst lead it to its boundary, And that thou shouldst know the paths to its mansion!
21 你總該知道，因為你那時已誕生了，而你的年歲已很高。
Surely thou knowest; for thou wast then born! And the number of thy years is great!
22 你到過雪庫，見過雹倉嗎﹖
Hast thou visited the storehouses of the snow, Or seen the treasuries of the hail,
23 那是我為降災之時，為戰爭之日所存放的。
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, —Against the day of battle and war?
24 雲霧由那條路散開，東風由那條路吹往大地﹖
What is the way to where light is distributed, And the east wind spread abroad upon the earth?
25 誰為暴雨啟開閘門，誰為雷電指示道路，
Who hath prepared channels for the rain, And a path for the thunder-flash,
26 好使雨落在無人之境，降在無人的荒野，
To give rain to the land without an inhabitant, To the wilderness wherein is no man;
27 為潤澤荒野乾旱之地，好使原野中的綠草生長﹖
To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, And cause the tender herb to spring forth?
28 雨有父親嗎﹖誰生了露珠﹖
Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of the dew?
29 冰出自誰的胎﹖天上的霜是誰生的﹖
Out of whose womb came the ice? And who hath gendered the hoar-frost of heaven?
30 水怎樣凝結如石﹖深淵的表面怎樣固結﹖
The waters are hid as under stone, And the face of the deep becometh solid.
31 你豈能栓住昂宿的紐結，解開參星的繩索﹖
Canst thou fasten the bands of the Pleiades, Or loosen the chains of Orion?
32 你豈能使晨星按時升出，引導北斗和它的星群﹖
Canst thou lead forth the Signs in their season, Or guide the Bear with her sons?
33 你豈知道天體的定律，立定天律以管治大地﹖
Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Hast thou appointed their dominion over the earth?
34 你豈能使你的聲音上達雲霄，使雨水沛然降在你處﹖
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, So that abundance of waters will cover thee?
35 你能否一發令，閃電就發出，且向你說：「我們在這裏﹖」
Canst thou send forth lightnings, so that they will go, And say to thee, “Here we are”?
36 誰將聰明給與鸛鳥，將智慧賦與雄雞﹖
Who hath put understanding in the reins, And given intelligence to the mind?
37 誰能憑智力數清雲彩，能傾倒天上的水囊﹖
Who numbereth the clouds in wisdom? And who poureth out the bottles of heaven,
38 當土壤堅固，泥塊凝結之時，
When the dust floweth into a molten mass, And the clods cleave fast together?
39 你是否能為牝獅獵取食物，滿足幼獅的食慾﹖
Canst thou hunt prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the hunger of the young lions,
40 當獅子伏於洞穴，臥於叢林埋伏的時候，
When they couch in their dens, And lie in wait in the thicket?
41 當雛鴉無食，往還飛翔，向天主哀鳴的時候，誰能為烏鴉備食﹖
Who provideth for the raven his food, When his young ones cry unto God, While they wander about without food?
