< Job 38 >

1 Respondens autem Dominus Job de turbine, dixit:
But the Lord, responding to Job from a whirlwind, said:
2 Quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus imperitis?
Who is this that wraps sentences in unskilled words?
3 Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos: interrogabo te, et responde mihi.
Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me.
4 Ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terræ? indica mihi, si habes intelligentiam.
Where were you, when I set the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Quis posuit mensuras ejus, si nosti? vel quis tetendit super eam lineam?
Who set its measurements, if you know, or who stretched a line over it?
6 Super quo bases illius solidatæ sunt? aut quis demisit lapidem angularem ejus,
Upon what have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its cornerstone,
7 cum me laudarent simul astra matutina, et jubilarent omnes filii Dei?
when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful noise?
8 Quis conclusit ostiis mare, quando erumpebat quasi de vulva procedens;
Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if issuing from the womb,
9 cum ponerem nubem vestimentum ejus, et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiæ obvolverem?
when I stationed a cloud as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an infant?
10 Circumdedi illud terminis meis, et posui vectem et ostia,
I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned its bars and doors.
11 et dixi: Usque huc venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos.
And I said: “This far you will approach, and you will proceed no further, and here you will break your swelling waves.”
12 Numquid post ortum tuum præcepisti diluculo, et ostendisti auroræ locum suum?
Did you, after your birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its place?
13 Et tenuisti concutiens extrema terræ, et excussisti impios ex ea?
And did you hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and have you shaken the impious out of it?
14 Restituetur ut lutum signaculum, et stabit sicut vestimentum:
The seal will be restored like clay, and it will remain in place like a garment.
15 auferetur ab impiis lux sua, et brachium excelsum confringetur.
From the impious, the light will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken.
16 Numquid ingressus es profunda maris, et in novissimis abyssi deambulasti?
Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you taken a walk in the uttermost parts of the abyss?
17 Numquid apertæ sunt tibi portæ mortis, et ostia tenebrosa vidisti?
Have the gates of death been opened to you, and have you seen the doors of darkness?
18 Numquid considerasti latitudinem terræ? indica mihi, si nosti, omnia:
Have you considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things, reveal them to me.
19 in qua via lux habitet, et tenebrarum quis locus sit:
Which is the way that holds the light, and which is the place of darkness?
20 ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos, et intelligas semitas domus ejus.
In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house.
21 Sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses, et numerum dierum tuorum noveras?
So then, did you know when you were to be born? And did you know the number of your days?
22 Numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis, aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti,
Have you been admitted into the storehouses of the snows, and have you gazed upon the stockpile of the brimstone,
23 quæ præparavi in tempus hostis, in diem pugnæ et belli?
which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, for the day of the battle and the war?
24 Per quam viam spargitur lux, dividitur æstus super terram?
In what way is the light scattered, and the heat distributed, over the earth?
25 Quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum, et viam sonantis tonitrui,
Who gave a course to the rainstorms, and a path to the resounding thunder,
26 ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto, ubi nullus mortalium commoratur;
so that it would rain on the earth far from man, in the wilderness where no mortal lingers,
27 ut impleret inviam et desolatam, et produceret herbas virentes?
so that it would fill impassable and desolate places, and would bring forth green plants?
28 Quis est pluviæ pater? vel quis genuit stillas roris?
Who is the father of rain, or who conceived the drops of dew?
29 De cujus utero egressa est glacies? et gelu de cælo quis genuit?
From whose womb did the ice proceed, and who created the frost from the air?
30 In similitudinem lapidis aquæ durantur, et superficies abyssi constringitur.
The waters are hardened to become like stone, and the surface of the abyss freezes over.
31 Numquid conjungere valebis micantes stellas Pleiadas, aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare?
Will you have the strength to join together the sparkling stars of the Pleiades, or are you able to disperse the circling of Arcturus?
32 Numquid producis luciferum in tempore suo, et vesperum super filios terræ consurgere facis?
Can you bring forth the morning star, in its time, and make the evening star rise over the sons of the earth?
33 Numquid nosti ordinem cæli, et pones rationem ejus in terra?
Do you know the order of heaven, and can you explain its rules here on the earth?
34 Numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam, et impetus aquarum operiet te?
Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an onslaught of waters will cover you?
35 Numquid mittes fulgura, et ibunt, et revertentia dicent tibi: Adsumus?
Can you send forth lightning bolts, and will they go, and on returning, say to you: “Here we are?”
36 Quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam? vel quis dedit gallo intelligentiam?
Who placed discernment in the guts of man, or who gave the rooster intelligence?
37 Quis enarrabit cælorum rationem? et concentum cæli quis dormire faciet?
Who can describe the rules of the heavens, or who can put to rest the harmony of heaven?
38 Quando fundebatur pulvis in terra, et glebæ compingebantur?
When was the dust cast to become the earth, and when were its clods fastened together?
39 Numquid capies leænæ prædam, et animam catulorum ejus implebis,
Will you seize prey for the lioness, and will you sustain the lives of her young,
40 quando cubant in antris, et in specubus insidiantur?
as they rest in their dens or lie in wait in pits?
41 Quis præparat corvo escam suam, quando pulli ejus clamant ad Deum, vagantes, eo quod non habeant cibos?
Who provides the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as they wander around because they have no food?

< Job 38 >