約伯記 38
1 上主由旋風中向約伯發言說：
Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,
2 用無知的話，使我的計劃模糊不明的是誰﹖
“Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 你要像勇士束好你的腰，我要問你，請指教我!
Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you 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 foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have 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 measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
6 地的基礎置在何處，是誰立了地的角石﹖
What were its foundations fastened on? Or 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﹖
“Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke 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 garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 是我給海劃定了界限，設立了門和閂，
marked out for it my bound, set 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, ‘You may come here, but no further. Your proud waves shall be stopped here’?
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 commanded the morning in your days, and 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 take 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 under the seal, and presented as a garment.
15 撤去惡人的光明，折斷高舉的手。
From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
16 你曾否到過海的源流，走過深淵的底處﹖
“Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in 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 revealed to you? Or 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 comprehended the earth in its width? Declare, 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﹖
“What is the way to the dwelling 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﹖
that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern 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。
Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
22 你到過雪庫，見過雹倉嗎﹖
Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses 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﹖
By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?
25 誰為暴雨啟開閘門，誰為雷電指示道路，
Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm,
26 好使雨落在無人之境，降在無人的荒野，
to cause it to rain on a land where there is no man, on the wilderness, in which there 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 waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to grow?
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﹖
Whose womb did the ice come out of? Who has given birth to the gray frost of the sky?
30 水怎樣凝結如石﹖深淵的表面怎樣固結﹖
The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen.
31 你豈能栓住昂宿的紐結，解開參星的繩索﹖
“Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen 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 out in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
33 你豈知道天體的定律，立定天律以管治大地﹖
Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its 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﹖
“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters 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 lightnings, that they may go? Do they report 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 inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
37 誰能憑智力數清雲彩，能傾倒天上的水囊﹖
Who can count the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the containers of the sky,
38 當土壤堅固，泥塊凝結之時，
when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?
39 你是否能為牝獅獵取食物，滿足幼獅的食慾﹖
“Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 當獅子伏於洞穴，臥於叢林埋伏的時候，
when they crouch 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 provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
