איוב 38

1 ויען-יהוה את-איוב מנהסערה (מן הסערה) ויאמר

Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,

2 מי זה מחשיך עצה במלין-- בלי-דעת

“(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!

3 אזר-נא כגבר חלציך ואשאלך והודיעני

I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.

4 איפה היית ביסדי-ארץ הגד אם-ידעת בינה

(“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].

5 מי-שם ממדיה כי תדע או מי-נטה עליה קו

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!

6 על-מה אדניה הטבעו או מי-ירה אבן פנתה

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?]

7 ברן-יחד כוכבי בקר ויריעו כל-בני אלהים

8 ויסך בדלתים ים בגיחו מרחם יצא

“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?

9 בשומי ענן לבשו וערפל חתלתו

It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].

10 ואשבר עליו חקי ואשים בריח ודלתים

I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].

11 ואמר--עד-פה תבוא ולא תסיף ופא-ישית בגאון גליך

[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!’

12 המימיך צוית בקר ידעתה שחר (ידעת השחר) מקמו

“Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?

13 לאחז בכנפות הארץ וינערו רשעים ממנה

Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?

14 תתהפך כחמר חותם ויתיצבו כמו לבוש

When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.

15 וימנע מרשעים אורם וזרוע רמה תשבר

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.

16 הבאת עד-נבכי-ים ובחקר תהום התהלכת

“[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?

17 הנגלו לך שערי-מות ושערי צלמות תראה

Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?

18 התבננת עד-רחבי-ארץ הגד אם-ידעת כלה

Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!

19 אי-זה הדרך ישכן-אור וחשך אי-זה מקמו

“Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?

20 כי תקחנו אל-גבולו וכי-תבין נתיבות ביתו

Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?

21 ידעת כי-אז תולד ומספר ימיך רבים

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!

22 הבאת אל-אצרות שלג ואוצרות ברד תראה

“Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?

23 אשר-חשכתי לעת-צר ליום קרב ומלחמה

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].

24 אי-זה הדרך יחלק אור יפץ קדים עלי-ארץ

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?

25 מי-פלג לשטף תעלה ודרך לחזיז קלות

Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?

26 להמטיר על-ארץ לא-איש-- מדבר לא-אדם בו

Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?

27 להשביע שאה ומשאה ולהצמיח מצא דשא

Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?

28 היש-למטר אב או מי-הוליד אגלי-טל

Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?

29 מבטן מי יצא הקרח וכפר שמים מי ילדו

And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?

30 כאבן מים יתחבאו ופני תהום יתלכדו

[In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.

31 התקשר מעדנות כימה או-משכות כסיל תפתח

“[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?

32 התציא מזרות בעתו ועיש על-בניה תנחם

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?

33 הידעת חקות שמים אם-תשים משטרו בארץ

Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?

34 התרים לעב קולך ושפעת-מים תכסך

“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?

35 התשלח ברקים וילכו ויאמרו לך הננו

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?’

36 מי-שת בטחות חכמה או מי-נתן לשכוי בינה

Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?

37 מי-יספר שחקים בחכמה ונבלי שמים מי ישכיב

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],

38 בצקת עפר למוצק ורגבים ידבקו

with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?

39 התצוד ללביא טרף וחית כפירים תמלא

“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?

40 כי-ישחו במעונות ישבו בסכה למו-ארב

41 מי יכין לערב צידו כי-ילדו אל-אל ישועו יתעו לבלי-אכל

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]?”