約伯記 38
1 上主由旋風中向約伯發言說：
Then Yahweh called to Job out of a fierce storm and said,
2 用無知的話，使我的計劃模糊不明的是誰﹖
“Who is this who brings darkness to plans by means of words without knowledge?
3 你要像勇士束好你的腰，我要問你，請指教我!
Now gird up your loins like a man for I will ask you questions, and you must answer me.
4 我奠定大地的基礎時，你在那裏﹖你若聰明，儘管說罷!
Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tell me, if you have so much understanding.
5 你知道是誰制定了地的度量，是誰在地上拉了準繩﹖
Who determined its dimensions? Tell me, if you know. Who stretched the measuring line over it?
6 地的基礎置在何處，是誰立了地的角石﹖
On what were its foundations laid? Who laid its cornerstone
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﹖
Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst out, as if it had come out of the womb—
9 是我用雲彩作海的衣裳，用濃霧作海的襁褓。
when I made clouds its clothing, and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
10 是我給海劃定了界限，設立了門和閂，
That was when I marked out for the sea my boundary, and when I placed its 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 when I said to it, 'You may come this far, but no farther; here is where I will put a boundary to the pride of your 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﹖
Have you given orders to 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﹖
so that it might take hold of the edges 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；
The earth is changed in appearance like clay changes under a seal; all things on it stand out clearly like the folds of a piece of clothing.
15 撤去惡人的光明，折斷高舉的手。
From wicked people their 'light' is taken away; their uplifted arm is broken.
16 你曾否到過海的源流，走過深淵的底處﹖
Have you gone to the sources of the waters of the sea? Have you walked in the lowest parts 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 revealed to you? Have you 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!
Have you understood the earth in its expanse? Tell me, if you know 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 resting place of light— as for darkness, where 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﹖
Can you lead light and darkness to their places of work? Can you find the way back to their houses for them?
21 你總該知道，因為你那時已誕生了，而你的年歲已很高。
Undoubtedly you know, for you were born then; the number of your days is so large!
22 你到過雪庫，見過雹倉嗎﹖
Have you entered the storehouses for the snow, or have you seen the storehouses for the hail,
23 那是我為降災之時，為戰爭之日所存放的。
these things that I have kept for times of trouble, for days 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 path to where the lightning bolts are distributed or to where the winds are scattered from the east over the earth?
25 誰為暴雨啟開閘門，誰為雷電指示道路，
Who has created the channels for the floods of rain, or who has made a path for the thunder,
26 好使雨落在無人之境，降在無人的荒野，
to cause it to rain on lands where no person exists, and on the wilderness, in which there is no one,
27 為潤澤荒野乾旱之地，好使原野中的綠草生長﹖
to satisfy the devastated and desolate places, and to make the ground sprout with grass?
28 雨有父親嗎﹖誰生了露珠﹖
Does the rain have a father, or, who fathers the drops of dew?
29 冰出自誰的胎﹖天上的霜是誰生的﹖
Out of whose womb did the ice come? Who bore the white frost out of the sky?
30 水怎樣凝結如石﹖深淵的表面怎樣固結﹖
The waters hide themselves and become like stone; the surface of the deep becomes frozen.
31 你豈能栓住昂宿的紐結，解開參星的繩索﹖
Can you fasten chains on the Pleiades, or undo the cords of Orion?
32 你豈能使晨星按時升出，引導北斗和它的星群﹖
Can you lead the constellations to appear at their proper times? Can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 你豈知道天體的定律，立定天律以管治大地﹖
Do you know the regulations of the sky? Could you set in place the sky's rule 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﹖
Can you raise your voice up to the clouds, so that an abundance of rainwater may cover you?
35 你能否一發令，閃電就發出，且向你說：「我們在這裏﹖」
Can you send out bolts of lightning that they may go out, that they say to you, 'Here we are'?
36 誰將聰明給與鸛鳥，將智慧賦與雄雞﹖
Who has put wisdom in the clouds or has given understanding to the mists?
37 誰能憑智力數清雲彩，能傾倒天上的水囊﹖
Who can number the clouds by his skill? Who can pour out the water skins of the sky
38 當土壤堅固，泥塊凝結之時，
when the dust runs into a hard mass and the clods of earth clump tightly together?
39 你是否能為牝獅獵取食物，滿足幼獅的食慾﹖
Can you hunt down a victim for a lioness or satisfy the appetite of her young lion cubs
40 當獅子伏於洞穴，臥於叢林埋伏的時候，
when they are crouching in their dens and sheltering in hiding to lie 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 provides victims for the ravens when their young ones cry out to God and stagger about for lack of food?
