ヨブ 記 38
1 この時、主はつむじ風の中からヨブに答えられた、
Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
2 「無知の言葉をもって、神の計りごとを暗くするこの者はだれか。
“(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 あなたは腰に帯して、男らしくせよ。わたしはあなたに尋ねる、わたしに答えよ。
I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
4 わたしが地の基をすえた時、どこにいたか。もしあなたが知っているなら言え。
(“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 あなたがもし知っているなら、だれがその度量を定めたか。だれが測りなわを地の上に張ったか。
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 その土台は何の上に置かれたか。その隅の石はだれがすえたか。
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 かの時には明けの星は相共に歌い、神の子たちはみな喜び呼ばわった。
8 海の水が流れいで、胎内からわき出たとき、だれが戸をもって、これを閉じこめたか。
“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
9 あの時、わたしは雲をもって衣とし、黒雲をもってむつきとし、
It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
10 これがために境を定め、関および戸を設けて、
I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
11 言った、『ここまで来てもよい、越えてはならぬ、おまえの高波はここにとどまるのだ』と。
[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 あなたは生れた日からこのかた朝に命じ、夜明けにその所を知らせ、
“Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
13 これに地の縁をとらえさせ、悪人をその上から振り落させたことがあるか。
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 地は印せられた土のように変り、衣のようにいろどられる。
When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
15 悪人はその光を奪われ、その高くあげた腕は折られる。
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 あなたは海の源に行ったことがあるか。淵の底を歩いたことがあるか。
“[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 死の門はあなたのために開かれたか。あなたは暗黒の門を見たことがあるか。
Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
18 あなたは地の広さを見きわめたか。もしこれをことごとく知っているならば言え。
Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
19 光のある所に至る道はいずれか。暗やみのある所はどこか。
“Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
20 あなたはこれをその境に導くことができるか。その家路を知っているか。
Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
21 あなたは知っているだろう、あなたはかの時すでに生れており、またあなたの日数も多いのだから。
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 あなたは雪の倉にはいったことがあるか。ひょうの倉を見たことがあるか。
“Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
23 これらは悩みの時のため、いくさと戦いの日のため、わたしがたくわえて置いたものだ。
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 光の広がる道はどこか。東風の地に吹き渡る道はどこか。
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 だれが大雨のために水路を切り開き、いかずちの光のために道を開き、
Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
26 人なき地にも、人なき荒野にも雨を降らせ、
Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
27 荒れすたれた地をあき足らせ、これに若草をはえさせるか。
Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
28 雨に父があるか。露の玉はだれが生んだか。
Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
29 氷はだれの胎から出たか。空の霜はだれが生んだか。
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 水は固まって石のようになり、淵のおもては凍る。
[In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
31 あなたはプレアデスの鎖を結ぶことができるか。オリオンの綱を解くことができるか。
“[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
32 あなたは十二宮をその時にしたがって引き出すことができるか。北斗とその子星を導くことができるか。
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 あなたは天の法則を知っているか、そのおきてを地に施すことができるか。
Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
34 あなたは声を雲にあげ、多くの水にあなたをおおわせることができるか。
“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
35 あなたはいなずまをつかわして行かせ、『われわれはここにいる』と、あなたに言わせることができるか。
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 雲に知恵を置き、霧に悟りを与えたのはだれか。
Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
37 だれが知恵をもって雲を数えることができるか。だれが天の皮袋を傾けて、
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 ちりを一つに流れ合させ、土くれを固まらせることができるか。
with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
39 あなたはししのために食物を狩り、子じしの食欲を満たすことができるか。
“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 彼らがほら穴に伏し、林のなかに待ち伏せする時、あなたはこの事をなすことができるか。
41 からすの子が神に向かって呼ばわり、食物がなくて、さまようとき、からすにえさを与える者はだれか。
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]?”
