Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
Forsothe the Lord answeride fro the whirlewynd to Joob,
2 “Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge?
and seide, Who is this man, wlappynge sentences with vnwise wordis?
3 Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
Girde thou as a man thi leendis; Y schal axe thee, and answere thou to me.
4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Where were thou, whanne Y settide the foundementis of erthe? schewe thou to me, if thou hast vndurstondyng.
5 Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?
Who settide mesures therof, if thou knowist? ethir who stretchide forth a lyne theronne?
6 On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,
On what thing ben the foundementis therof maad fast? ether who sente doun the corner stoon therof,
7 while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
whanne the morew sterris herieden me togidere, and alle the sones of God sungun ioyfuli?
8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
Who closide togidere the see with doris, whanne it brak out comynge forth as of the wombe?
9 when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,
Whanne Y settide a cloude the hilyng therof, and Y wlappide it with derknesse, as with clothis of yong childhed.
10 when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,
Y cumpasside it with my termes, and Y settide a barre, and doris;
11 and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?
and Y seide, `Til hidur thou schalt come, and thou schalt not go forth ferthere; and here thou schalt breke togidere thi bolnynge wawis.
12 In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,
Whethir aftir thi birthe thou comaundist to the bigynnyng of dai, and schewidist to the morewtid his place?
13 that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
Whethir thou heldist schakynge togidere the laste partis of erthe, and schakedist awei wickid men therfro?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
A seeling schal be restorid as cley, and it schal stonde as a cloth.
15 Light is withheld from the wicked, and their upraised arm is broken.
The liyt of wickid men schal be takun awey fro hem, and an hiy arm schal be brokun.
16 Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea or walked in the trenches of the deep?
Whethir thou entridist in to the depthe of the see, and walkidist in the laste partis of the occian?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Whether the yatis of deeth ben openyd to thee, and `siest thou the derk doris?
18 Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.
Whethir thou hast biholde the brede of erthe? Schewe thou to me, if thou knowist alle thingis,
19 Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides,
in what weie the liyt dwellith, and which is the place of derknesse;
20 so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home?
that thou lede ech thing to hise termes, and thou vndurstonde the weies of his hows.
21 Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great!
Wistist thou thanne, that thou schuldist be borun, and knew thou the noumbre of thi daies?
22 Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,
Whethir thou entridist in to the tresours of snow, ether biheldist thou the tresours of hail?
23 which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle?
whiche thingis Y made redy in to the tyme of an enemy, in to the dai of fiytyng and of batel.
24 In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth?
Bi what weie is the liyt spred abrood, heete is departid on erthe?
25 Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt,
Who yaf cours to the strongeste reyn,
26 to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,
and weie of the thundur sownynge? That it schulde reyne on the erthe with out man in desert, where noon of deedli men dwellith?
27 to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass?
That it schulde fille a lond with out weie and desolat, and schulde brynge forth greene eerbis?
28 Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew?
Who is fadir of reyn, ether who gendride the dropis of deew?
29 From whose womb does the ice emerge? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven,
Of whos wombe yede out iys, and who gendride frost fro heuene?
30 when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen?
Watris ben maad hard in the licnesse of stoon, and the ouer part of occian is streyned togidere.
31 Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?
Whether thou schalt mowe ioyne togidere schynynge sterris Pliades, ethir thou schalt mowe distrie the cumpas of Arturis?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear and her cubs?
Whether thou bryngist forth Lucifer, `that is, dai sterre, in his tyme, and makist euene sterre to rise on the sones of erthe?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?
Whether thou knowist the ordre of heuene, and schalt sette the resoun therof in erthe?
34 Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you?
Whethir thou schalt reise thi vois in to a cloude, and the fersnesse of watris schal hile thee?
35 Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
Whethir thou schalt sende leitis, and tho schulen go, and tho schulen turne ayen, and schulen seie to thee, We ben present?
36 Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind?
Who puttide wisdoom in the entrailis of man, ethir who yaf vndurstondyng to the cok?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
Who schal telle out the resoun of heuenes, and who schal make acordyng of heuene to sleep?
38 when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods of earth stick together?
Whanne dust was foundid in the erthe, and clottis weren ioyned togidere?
39 Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions
Whether thou schalt take prey to the lionesse, and schalt fille the soulis of hir whelpis,
40 when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket?
whanne tho liggen in caues, and aspien in dennes?
41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
Who makith redi for the crowe his mete, whanne hise briddis crien to God, and wandren aboute, for tho han not meetis?
