約伯記 38
1 上主由旋風中向約伯發言說：
Then Yahweh responded to Job, out of a storm, and said: —
2 用無知的話，使我的計劃模糊不明的是誰﹖
Who is it 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, I pray thee—like a strong man—thy loins, that I may ask thee, and inform 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 founded the earth? Tell, if thou knowest understanding!
5 你知道是誰制定了地的度量，是誰在地上拉了準繩﹖
Who set the measurements thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched out over it a line?
6 地的基礎置在何處，是誰立了地的角石﹖
Whereon were the pedestals thereof sunk? Or who laid the corner stone thereof; —
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﹖
Or [who] shut in, with double doors, the sea, when, bursting out of the womb, it came forth;
9 是我用雲彩作海的衣裳，用濃霧作海的襁褓。
When I put a cloud as the garment thereof, and a thick cloud as the swaddling-band thereof;
10 是我給海劃定了界限，設立了門和閂，
And brake off for it my boundary, and fixed a bar and double 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—Hitherto, shalt thou come, and no further, —and, here, shalt thou set a limit to the majesty of thy waves?
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﹖
Since thy days [began] hast thou commanded the morning? or caused the dawn 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 might lay hold of the wings of the earth, and the lawless be shaken 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 transformeth itself like the clay of a seal, so that things stand forth like one arrayed;
15 撤去惡人的光明，折斷高舉的手。
That their light may be withdrawn from the lawless, and, the lofty arm, be shivered.
16 你曾否到過海的源流，走過深淵的底處﹖
Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? Or, through the secret recesses of the resounding deep, hast thou wandered?
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, the gates of the death-shade, couldst thou descry?
18 你知道大地的廣闊嗎﹖你若知道，請你說罷!
Hast thou well considered, even the breadths of the earth? Tell—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 then is the way, the light shall abide? And, the darkness, where then is its 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 mayest conduct it unto the bound thereof, and that thou mayest perceive the paths to its house.
21 你總該知道，因為你那時已誕生了，而你的年歲已很高。
Thou knowest, for, then, hadst thou been born! And, in number, thy days are many!
22 你到過雪庫，見過雹倉嗎﹖
Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? And, the treasuries of the hail, couldst thou see?
23 那是我為降災之時，為戰爭之日所存放的。
Which I have reserved for a time of distress, for the day of conflict and of war?
24 雲霧由那條路散開，東風由那條路吹往大地﹖
Where then is the way the lightning is parted? The east wind spreadeth itself abroad over the earth.
25 誰為暴雨啟開閘門，誰為雷電指示道路，
Who hath cloven—for the torrent—a channel? Or a way for the lightning of thunders;
26 好使雨落在無人之境，降在無人的荒野，
To give rain over the no-man’s land, the desert, where no son of earth is;
27 為潤澤荒野乾旱之地，好使原野中的綠草生長﹖
To satisfy the wild and the wilderness, to cause to spring forth the meadow of young grass?
28 雨有父親嗎﹖誰生了露珠﹖
Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29 冰出自誰的胎﹖天上的霜是誰生的﹖
Out of whose womb, came forth the ice? And, the hoar-frost of the heavens, who hath given it birth?
30 水怎樣凝結如石﹖深淵的表面怎樣固結﹖
Like a stone, are the waters congealed, and, the face of the roaring deep, becometh firm!
31 你豈能栓住昂宿的紐結，解開參星的繩索﹖
Canst thou bind the fetters of the Pleiades? Or, the bands of Orion, canst thou unloose?
32 你豈能使晨星按時升出，引導北斗和它的星群﹖
Canst thou bring forth the signs of the Zodiac each in its season? Or, the Bear and her Young, canst thou lead?
33 你豈知道天體的定律，立定天律以管治大地﹖
Knowest thou, the statutes of the heavens? Or didst thou appoint his 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, to the thick cloud, thy voice, and the overflow of waters 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 the lightnings, so that they go, and say to thee, Behold us?
36 誰將聰明給與鸛鳥，將智慧賦與雄雞﹖
Who hath put—into cloud-forms—wisdom? Or who hath given—to the meteor—understanding?
37 誰能憑智力數清雲彩，能傾倒天上的水囊﹖
Who can count the thin clouds, in wisdom? And, the bottles of the heavens, who can empty out;
38 當土壤堅固，泥塊凝結之時，
When the dust is cast into a clod, and the lumps are bound together?
39 你是否能為牝獅獵取食物，滿足幼獅的食慾﹖
Wilt thou hunt—for the Lioness—prey? Or, the craving of the Strong Lion, wilt thou satisfy;
40 當獅子伏於洞穴，臥於叢林埋伏的時候，
When they settle down in dens, abide in covert, for lying in wait?
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 prepareth for the Raven his nourishment, —when his young ones—unto GOD—cry out, [when] they wander for lack of food?
