Giobbe 38
1 Il Signore rispose a Giobbe di mezzo al turbine:
Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
2 Chi è costui che oscura il consiglio con parole insipienti?
“(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 Cingiti i fianchi come un prode, io t'interrogherò e tu mi istruirai.
I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
4 Dov'eri tu quand'io ponevo le fondamenta della terra? Dillo, se hai tanta intelligenza!
(“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 Chi ha fissato le sue dimensioni, se lo sai, o chi ha teso su di essa la misura?
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 Dove sono fissate le sue basi o chi ha posto la sua pietra angolare,
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 mentre gioivano in coro le stelle del mattino e plaudivano tutti i figli di Dio?
8 Chi ha chiuso tra due porte il mare, quando erompeva uscendo dal seno materno,
“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
9 quando lo circondavo di nubi per veste e per fasce di caligine folta?
It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
10 Poi gli ho fissato un limite e gli ho messo chiavistello e porte
I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
11 e ho detto: «Fin qui giungerai e non oltre e qui s'infrangerà l'orgoglio delle tue onde».
[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 Da quando vivi, hai mai comandato al mattino e assegnato il posto all'aurora,
“Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
13 perché essa afferri i lembi della terra e ne scuota i malvagi?
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 Si trasforma come creta da sigillo e si colora come un vestito.
When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
15 E' sottratta ai malvagi la loro luce ed è spezzato il braccio che si alza a colpire.
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 Sei mai giunto alle sorgenti del mare e nel fondo dell'abisso hai tu passeggiato?
“[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 Ti sono state indicate le porte della morte e hai visto le porte dell'ombra funerea?
Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
18 Hai tu considerato le distese della terra? Dillo, se sai tutto questo!
Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
19 Per quale via si va dove abita la luce e dove hanno dimora le tenebre
“Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
20 perché tu le conduca al loro dominio o almeno tu sappia avviarle verso la loro casa?
Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
21 Certo, tu lo sai, perché allora eri nato e il numero dei tuoi giorni è assai grande!
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 Sei mai giunto ai serbatoi della neve, hai mai visto i serbatoi della grandine,
“Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
23 che io riserbo per il tempo della sciagura, per il giorno della guerra e della battaglia?
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 Per quali vie si espande la luce, si diffonde il vento d'oriente sulla terra?
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 Chi ha scavato canali agli acquazzoni e una strada alla nube tonante,
Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
26 per far piovere sopra una terra senza uomini, su un deserto dove non c'è nessuno,
Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
27 per dissetare regioni desolate e squallide e far germogliare erbe nella steppa?
Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
28 Ha forse un padre la pioggia? O chi mette al mondo le gocce della rugiada?
Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
29 Dal seno di chi è uscito il ghiaccio e la brina del cielo chi l'ha generata?
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 Come pietra le acque induriscono e la faccia dell'abisso si raggela.
[In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
31 Puoi tu annodare i legami delle Plèiadi o sciogliere i vincoli di Orione?
“[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
32 Fai tu spuntare a suo tempo la stella del mattino o puoi guidare l'Orsa insieme con i suoi figli?
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 Conosci tu le leggi del cielo o ne applichi le norme sulla terra?
Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
34 Puoi tu alzare la voce fino alle nubi e farti coprire da un rovescio di acqua?
“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
35 Scagli tu i fulmini e partono dicendoti: «Eccoci!»?
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 Chi ha elargito all'ibis la sapienza o chi ha dato al gallo intelligenza?
Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
37 Chi può con sapienza calcolare le nubi e chi riversa gli otri del cielo,
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 quando si fonde la polvere in una massa e le zolle si attaccano insieme?
with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
39 Vai tu a caccia di preda per la leonessa e sazi la fame dei leoncini,
“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 quando sono accovacciati nelle tane o stanno in agguato fra le macchie?
41 Chi prepara al corvo il suo pasto, quando i suoi nati gridano verso Dio e vagano qua e là per mancanza di cibo?
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]?”
