< Job 38 >

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Respondens autem Dominus Iob de turbine, dixit:
2 Who [is] this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
Quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus imperitis?
3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos: interrogabo te, et responde mihi.
4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terræ? indica mihi si habes intelligentiam.
5 Who hath laid the measures of it, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Quis posuit mensuras eius, si nosti? vel quis tetendit super eam lineam?
6 Upon what are the foundations of it fastened? or who laid its corner stone;
Super quo bases illius solidatæ sunt? aut quis demisit lapidem angularem eius,
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Cum me laudarent simul astra matutina, et iubilarent omnes filii Dei?
8 Or [who] shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth, [as if] it had issued out of the womb?
Quis conclusit ostiis mare, quando erumpebat quasi de vulva procedens:
9 When I made a cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it,
Cum ponerem nubem vestimentum eius, et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiæ obvolverem?
10 And broke up for it my decreed [place], and set bars and doors,
Circumdedi illud terminis meis, et posui vectem, et ostia:
11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.
Et dixi: Usque huc venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos.
12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; [and] caused the day-spring to know its place;
Numquid post ortum tuum præcepisti diluculo, et ostendisti auroræ locum suum?
13 That it might take hold of the ends of earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
Et tenuisti concutiens extrema terræ, et excussisti impios ex ea?
14 It is turned as clay [to] the seal; and they stand as a garment.
Restituetur ut lutum signaculum, et stabit sicut vestimentum:
15 And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the high arm shall be broken.
Auferetur ab impiis lux sua, et brachium excelsum confringetur.
16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
Numquid ingressus es profunda maris, et in novissimis abyssi deambulasti?
17 Have the gates of death been opened to thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shades of death?
Numquid apertæ sunt tibi portæ mortis, et ostia tenebrosa vidisti?
18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.
Numquid considerasti latitudinem terræ? indica mihi, si nosti, omnia,
19 Where [is] the way [where] light dwelleth? and [as for] darkness, where [is] its place,
In qua via lux habitet, et tenebrarum quis locus sit:
20 That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths [to] its house?
Ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos, et intelligas semitas domus eius.
21 Knowest thou [it], because thou wast then born? or [because] the number of thy days [is] great?
Sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses? et numerum dierum tuorum noveras?
22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
Numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis, aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti,
23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
Quæ præparavi in tempus hostis, in diem pugnæ et belli?
24 By what way is the light parted, [which] scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
Per quam viam spargitur lux, dividitur æstus super terram?
25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
Quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum, et viam sonantis tonitrui,
26 To cause it to rain on the earth, [where] no man [is]; [on] the wilderness in which [there is] no man;
Ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto, ubi nullus mortalium commoratur,
27 To satisfy the desolate and waste [ground]; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
Ut impleret inviam et desolatam, et produceret herbas virentes?
28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of the dew?
Quis est pluviæ pater? vel quis genuit stillas roris?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
De cuius utero egressa est glacies? et gelu de cælo quis genuit?
30 The waters are hid as [with] a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
In similitudinem lapidis aquæ durantur, et superficies abyssi constringitur.
31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
Numquid coniungere valebis micantes stellas Pleiadas, aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare?
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in its season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with its sons?
Numquid producis Luciferum in tempore suo, et Vesperum super filios terræ consurgere facis?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set its dominion on the earth?
Numquid nosti ordinem cæli, et pones rationem eius in terra?
34 Canst thou lift thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
Numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam, et impetus aquarum operiet te?
35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say to thee, Here we [are]?
Numquid mittes fulgura, et ibunt, et revertentia dicent tibi: Adsumus?
36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?
Quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam? vel quis dedit gallo intelligentiam?
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
Quis enarrabit cælorum rationem, et concentum cæli quis dormire faciet?
38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
Quando fundebatur pulvis in terra, et glebæ compingebantur?
39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
Numquid capies leænæ prædam, et animam catulorum eius implebis,
40 When they couch in [their] dens, [and] abide in the covert to lie in wait?
Quando cubant in antris, et in specubus insidiantur?
41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry to God, they wander for want of food.
Quis præparat corvo escam suam, quando pulli eius clamant ad Deum, vagantes, eo quod non habeant cibos?

< Job 38 >