Job 38
1 Respondens autem Dominus Job de turbine, dixit:
Then spake Jehovah to Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
2 Quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus imperitis?
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos: interrogabo te, et responde mihi.
Gird up thy loins like a man! I will ask thee, and answer thou me!
4 Ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terræ? indica mihi, si habes intelligentiam.
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding!
5 Quis posuit mensuras ejus, si nosti? vel quis tetendit super eam lineam?
Who fixed its dimensions, that thou shouldst know it! Or who stretched out the line upon it?
6 Super quo bases illius solidatæ sunt? aut quis demisit lapidem angularem ejus,
Upon what were its foundations fixed? And who laid its corner-stone,
7 cum me laudarent simul astra matutina, et jubilarent omnes filii Dei?
When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Quis conclusit ostiis mare, quando erumpebat quasi de vulva procedens;
And who shut up the sea with doors, When it burst forth as from the womb?
9 cum ponerem nubem vestimentum ejus, et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiæ obvolverem?
When I made the clouds its mantle, And thick darkness its swaddling-band;
10 Circumdedi illud terminis meis, et posui vectem et ostia,
When I appointed for it my bound, And fixed for it bars and doors;
11 et dixi: Usque huc venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos.
And said, Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther, And here shall thy proud waves be stayed!
12 Numquid post ortum tuum præcepisti diluculo, et ostendisti auroræ locum suum?
Hast thou, in thy life, given charge to the morning, Or caused the day-spring to know its place,
13 Et tenuisti concutiens extrema terræ, et excussisti impios ex ea?
That it should lay hold of the ends of the earth, And shake the wicked out of it?
14 Restituetur ut lutum signaculum, et stabit sicut vestimentum:
It is changed as clay by the seal; And all things stand forth as in rich apparel.
15 auferetur ab impiis lux sua, et brachium excelsum confringetur.
But from the wicked their light is withheld, And the high-raised arm is broken.
16 Numquid ingressus es profunda maris, et in novissimis abyssi deambulasti?
Hast thou visited the springs of the sea, And walked through the recesses of the deep?
17 Numquid apertæ sunt tibi portæ mortis, et ostia tenebrosa vidisti?
Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee, And hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18 Numquid considerasti latitudinem terræ? indica mihi, si nosti, omnia:
Hast thou surveyed the breadth of the earth? Declare, if thou knowest it all!
19 in qua via lux habitet, et tenebrarum quis locus sit:
Where is the way to the abode of light? And darkness—where is its dwelling-place?
20 ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos, et intelligas semitas domus ejus.
That thou shouldst lead it to its boundary, And that thou shouldst know the paths to its mansion!
21 Sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses, et numerum dierum tuorum noveras?
Surely thou knowest; for thou wast then born! And the number of thy years is great!
22 Numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis, aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti,
Hast thou visited the storehouses of the snow, Or seen the treasuries of the hail,
23 quæ præparavi in tempus hostis, in diem pugnæ et belli?
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, —Against the day of battle and war?
24 Per quam viam spargitur lux, dividitur æstus super terram?
What is the way to where light is distributed, And the east wind spread abroad upon the earth?
25 Quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum, et viam sonantis tonitrui,
Who hath prepared channels for the rain, And a path for the thunder-flash,
26 ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto, ubi nullus mortalium commoratur;
To give rain to the land without an inhabitant, To the wilderness wherein is no man;
27 ut impleret inviam et desolatam, et produceret herbas virentes?
To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, And cause the tender herb to spring forth?
28 Quis est pluviæ pater? vel quis genuit stillas roris?
Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of the dew?
29 De cujus utero egressa est glacies? et gelu de cælo quis genuit?
Out of whose womb came the ice? And who hath gendered the hoar-frost of heaven?
30 In similitudinem lapidis aquæ durantur, et superficies abyssi constringitur.
The waters are hid as under stone, And the face of the deep becometh solid.
31 Numquid conjungere valebis micantes stellas Pleiadas, aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare?
Canst thou fasten the bands of the Pleiades, Or loosen the chains of Orion?
32 Numquid producis luciferum in tempore suo, et vesperum super filios terræ consurgere facis?
Canst thou lead forth the Signs in their season, Or guide the Bear with her sons?
33 Numquid nosti ordinem cæli, et pones rationem ejus in terra?
Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Hast thou appointed their dominion over the earth?
34 Numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam, et impetus aquarum operiet te?
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, So that abundance of waters will cover thee?
35 Numquid mittes fulgura, et ibunt, et revertentia dicent tibi: Adsumus?
Canst thou send forth lightnings, so that they will go, And say to thee, “Here we are”?
36 Quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam? vel quis dedit gallo intelligentiam?
Who hath put understanding in the reins, And given intelligence to the mind?
37 Quis enarrabit cælorum rationem? et concentum cæli quis dormire faciet?
Who numbereth the clouds in wisdom? And who poureth out the bottles of heaven,
38 Quando fundebatur pulvis in terra, et glebæ compingebantur?
When the dust floweth into a molten mass, And the clods cleave fast together?
39 Numquid capies leænæ prædam, et animam catulorum ejus implebis,
Canst thou hunt prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the hunger of the young lions,
40 quando cubant in antris, et in specubus insidiantur?
When they couch in their dens, And lie in wait in the thicket?
41 Quis præparat corvo escam suam, quando pulli ejus clamant ad Deum, vagantes, eo quod non habeant cibos?
Who provideth for the raven his food, When his young ones cry unto God, While they wander about without food?
