Job 38
1 Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
上主由旋風中向約伯發言說：
2 “(Who are you to question what I plan to do?/You have no right/authority to question what I plan to do.) [RHQ] You are speaking ignorantly!
用無知的話，使我的計劃模糊不明的是誰﹖
3 I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
你要像勇士束好你的腰，我要問你，請指教我!
4 (“Where were you/Were you there with me) [long ago] when I (laid the foundations of/created) the earth? Since you know so much, tell me [where you were at that time].
我奠定大地的基礎時，你在那裏﹖你若聰明，儘管說罷!
5 Do you know how I decided how large the earth would be? Do you know who stretched a measuring tape around the earth? Surely [since you think that you know so much, ] you should know that!
你知道是誰制定了地的度量，是誰在地上拉了準繩﹖
6 What supports the pillars on which the earth rests? When the stars [that shine early] in the morning sang together, and someone put in place the stone that causes the earth to stay in its place, and all the angels shouted joyfully [when they saw that happening], who laid that cornerstone? [Did you?]
地的基礎置在何處，是誰立了地的角石﹖
當時星辰一起歌詠，天主的眾子同聲歡呼!
8 “When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
海水洶湧如出母胎時，是誰用門將海關閉﹖
9 It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
是我用雲彩作海的衣裳，用濃霧作海的襁褓。
10 I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
是我給海劃定了界限，設立了門和閂，
11 [I pointed to the shore] and said to the water, ‘I permit you to come up to here, but I do not permit you to come any farther. Your powerful waves must stop there!’
並下令說：「你到此為止，不得越過；你的狂潮到此為止。」
12 “Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
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﹖
13 Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?
何嘗使光握緊大地四角，將惡人從那裏抖出去﹖
14 When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
曙光改變大地，如在膠泥上蓋印；使萬物出現，如著錦衣；
15 When it becomes daylight, the wicked do not have the darkness [that they like]; [in the daylight] they no longer are able to raise up their arms, ready to hurt people.
撤去惡人的光明，折斷高舉的手。
16 “[Job, ] have you traveled to the springs [in the bottom of the ocean] from which the water in the seas comes? Have you investigated/explored the very bottom of the oceans?
你曾否到過海的源流，走過深淵的底處﹖
17 Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
死亡的門給你開啟過嗎﹖你見過死影之門嗎﹖
18 Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
你知道大地的廣闊嗎﹖你若知道，請你說罷!
19 “Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
赴光明之所的路是那一條，黑暗的住處在那裏﹖
20 Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
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﹖
21 I am sure that you know these things, because you [talk as though you] were born before the time when all things were created; you [must] be very old!
你總該知道，因為你那時已誕生了，而你的年歲已很高。
22 “Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
你到過雪庫，見過雹倉嗎﹖
23 I store the snow and the hail [in order that I can use them to help my people] when [they have] troubles, in times when [they are fighting] wars [DOU].
那是我為降災之時，為戰爭之日所存放的。
24 And where is the road to the place from which I cause the lightning to flash? Where is the place from where the east wind begins to blow over all the earth?
雲霧由那條路散開，東風由那條路吹往大地﹖
25 Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
誰為暴雨啟開閘門，誰為雷電指示道路，
26 Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
好使雨落在無人之境，降在無人的荒野，
27 Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
為潤澤荒野乾旱之地，好使原野中的綠草生長﹖
28 Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
雨有父親嗎﹖誰生了露珠﹖
29 And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?
冰出自誰的胎﹖天上的霜是誰生的﹖
30 [In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
水怎樣凝結如石﹖深淵的表面怎樣固結﹖
31 “[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
你豈能栓住昂宿的紐結，解開參星的繩索﹖
32 Can you tell the stars when they should shine? Can you guide [the stars in the groups in the northern sky whose names are] the Big Bear and the Little Bear?
你豈能使晨星按時升出，引導北斗和它的星群﹖
33 Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
你豈知道天體的定律，立定天律以管治大地﹖
34 “Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
你豈能使你的聲音上達雲霄，使雨水沛然降在你處﹖
35 Can you cause flashes of lightning to come down and strike where you want it to strike? Do those flashes say to you, ‘Where do you want us to strike next?’
你能否一發令，閃電就發出，且向你說：「我們在這裏﹖」
36 Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
誰將聰明給與鸛鳥，將智慧賦與雄雞﹖
37 And who is skilled/wise enough to be able to count the clouds? Who can tilt the jugs of water in the sky [to cause the rain to fall],
誰能憑智力數清雲彩，能傾倒天上的水囊﹖
38 with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
當土壤堅固，泥塊凝結之時，
39 “When a lioness and her cubs crouch in their dens or hide in a thicket, [waiting for some animal to pass by that they can kill, ] can you find animals for a lioness to kill so that [she and] her cubs can [eat the meat and] not be hungry any more?
你是否能為牝獅獵取食物，滿足幼獅的食慾﹖
當獅子伏於洞穴，臥於叢林埋伏的時候，
41 Who provides dead animals for crows, when the baby crows are calling out to me [for food], [when they are so weak] because of their lack of food [that] they (stagger around/can hardly stand up) [in their nests]?”
當雛鴉無食，往還飛翔，向天主哀鳴的時候，誰能為烏鴉備食﹖
