Giobbe 38
1 Allora l’Eterno rispose a Giobbe dal seno della tempesta, e disse:
Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
2 “Chi è costui che oscura i miei disegni con parole prive di senno?
“(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 Orsù, cingiti i lombi come un prode; io ti farò delle domande e tu insegnami!
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 fondavo la 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 ne fissò le dimensioni? giacché tu il sai! chi tirò sovr’essa la corda da misurare?
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 Su che furon poggiate le sue fondamenta, o chi ne pose la 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 quando le stelle del mattino cantavan tutte assieme e tutti i figli di Dio davan in gridi di giubilo?
8 Chi chiuse con porte il mare balzante fuor dal seno materno,
“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
9 quando gli detti le nubi per vestimento e per fasce l’oscurità,
It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
10 quando gli tracciai de’ confini, gli misi sbarre e porte,
I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
11 e dissi: “Fin qui tu verrai, e non oltre; qui si fermerà l’orgoglio de’ tuoi flutti?”
[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 Hai tu mai, in vita tua, comandato al mattino? o insegnato il suo luogo all’aurora,
“Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
13 perch’ella afferri i lembi della terra, e ne scuota via 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 La terra si trasfigura come creta sotto il sigillo, e appar come vestita d’un ricco manto;
When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
15 i malfattori sono privati della luce loro, e il braccio, alzato già, è spezzato.
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 tu penetrato fino alle sorgenti del mare? hai tu passeggiato in fondo all’abisso?
“[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 Le porte della morte ti son esse state scoperte? Hai tu veduto le porte dell’ombra di morte?
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 abbracciato collo sguardo l’ampiezza della terra? Parla, se la conosci tutta!
Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
19 Dov’è la via che guida al soggiorno della luce? E la tenebra dov’è la sua dimora?
“Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
20 Le puoi tu menare verso i loro domini, e sai tu bene i sentieri per ricondurle a casa?
Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
21 Lo sai di sicuro! ché tu eri, allora, già nato, e il numero de’ tuoi giorni è 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 tu entrato ne’ depositi della neve? Li hai visti i depositi della grandine
“Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
23 ch’io tengo in serbo per i tempi della distretta, pel giorno della battaglia e della guerra?
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 diffonde la luce e si sparge il vento orientale 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 aperto i canali all’acquazzone e segnato la via al lampo dei tuoni,
Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
26 perché la pioggia cada sulla terra inabitata, sul deserto ove non sta alcun uomo,
Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
27 e disseti le solitudini desolate, sì che vi germogli e cresca l’erba?
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 la pioggia un padre? o chi genera le gocce della rugiada?
Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
29 Dal seno di chi esce il ghiaccio, e la brina del cielo chi la dà alla luce?
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 Le acque, divenute come pietra, si nascondono, e la superficie dell’abisso si congela.
[In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
31 Sei tu che stringi i legami delle Pleiadi, o potresti tu scioglier le catene d’Orione?
“[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
32 Sei tu che, al suo tempo, fai apparire le costellazioni e guidi la grand’Orsa insieme a’ suoi piccini?
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? e regoli tu il dominio di esso 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 levar la voce fino alle nubi, e far che abbondanza di pioggia ti ricopra?
“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
35 I fulmini parton forse al tuo comando? Ti dicono essi: “Eccoci qua”?
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 messo negli strati delle nubi sapienza, o chi ha dato intelletto alla meteora?
Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
37 Chi conta con sapienza le nubi? e gli otri del cielo chi li versa
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 allorché la polvere stemperata diventa come una massa in fusione e le zolle de’ campi si saldan fra loro?
with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
39 Sei tu che cacci la preda per la leonessa, che sazi la fame de’ leoncelli
“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 si appiattano nelle tane e si mettono in agguato nella macchia?
41 Chi provvede il pasto al corvo quando i suoi piccini gridano a Dio e vanno errando senza 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]?”
