Job 38
1 Respondens autem Dominus Job de turbine, dixit:
Then Yahweh responded to Job, out of a storm, and said: —
2 Quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus imperitis?
Who is it that darkeneth counsel, by words, without knowledge?
3 Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos: interrogabo te, et responde mihi.
Gird, I pray thee—like a strong man—thy loins, that I may ask thee, and inform thou me:
4 Ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terræ? indica mihi, si habes intelligentiam.
Where wast thou, when I founded the earth? Tell, if thou knowest understanding!
5 Quis posuit mensuras ejus, si nosti? vel quis tetendit super eam lineam?
Who set the measurements thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched out over it a line?
6 Super quo bases illius solidatæ sunt? aut quis demisit lapidem angularem ejus,
Whereon were the pedestals thereof sunk? Or who laid the corner stone thereof; —
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;
Or [who] shut in, with double doors, the sea, when, bursting out of the womb, it came forth;
9 cum ponerem nubem vestimentum ejus, et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiæ obvolverem?
When I put a cloud as the garment thereof, and a thick cloud as the swaddling-band thereof;
10 Circumdedi illud terminis meis, et posui vectem et ostia,
And brake off for it my boundary, and fixed a bar and double doors;
11 et dixi: Usque huc venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos.
And said—Hitherto, shalt thou come, and no further, —and, here, shalt thou set a limit to the majesty of thy waves?
12 Numquid post ortum tuum præcepisti diluculo, et ostendisti auroræ locum suum?
Since thy days [began] hast thou commanded the morning? or caused the dawn to know its place;
13 Et tenuisti concutiens extrema terræ, et excussisti impios ex ea?
That it might lay hold of the wings of the earth, and the lawless be shaken out of it?
14 Restituetur ut lutum signaculum, et stabit sicut vestimentum:
It transformeth itself like the clay of a seal, so that things stand forth like one arrayed;
15 auferetur ab impiis lux sua, et brachium excelsum confringetur.
That their light may be withdrawn from the lawless, and, the lofty arm, be shivered.
16 Numquid ingressus es profunda maris, et in novissimis abyssi deambulasti?
Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? Or, through the secret recesses of the resounding deep, hast thou wandered?
17 Numquid apertæ sunt tibi portæ mortis, et ostia tenebrosa vidisti?
Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee? And, the gates of the death-shade, couldst thou descry?
18 Numquid considerasti latitudinem terræ? indica mihi, si nosti, omnia:
Hast thou well considered, even the breadths of the earth? Tell—if thou knowest it all!
19 in qua via lux habitet, et tenebrarum quis locus sit:
Where then is the way, the light shall abide? And, the darkness, where then is its place?
20 ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos, et intelligas semitas domus ejus.
That thou mayest conduct it unto the bound thereof, and that thou mayest perceive the paths to its house.
21 Sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses, et numerum dierum tuorum noveras?
Thou knowest, for, then, hadst thou been born! And, in number, thy days are many!
22 Numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis, aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti,
Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? And, the treasuries of the hail, couldst thou see?
23 quæ præparavi in tempus hostis, in diem pugnæ et belli?
Which I have reserved for a time of distress, for the day of conflict and of war?
24 Per quam viam spargitur lux, dividitur æstus super terram?
Where then is the way the lightning is parted? The east wind spreadeth itself abroad over the earth.
25 Quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum, et viam sonantis tonitrui,
Who hath cloven—for the torrent—a channel? Or a way for the lightning of thunders;
26 ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto, ubi nullus mortalium commoratur;
To give rain over the no-man’s land, the desert, where no son of earth is;
27 ut impleret inviam et desolatam, et produceret herbas virentes?
To satisfy the wild and the wilderness, to cause to spring forth the meadow of young grass?
28 Quis est pluviæ pater? vel quis genuit stillas roris?
Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29 De cujus utero egressa est glacies? et gelu de cælo quis genuit?
Out of whose womb, came forth the ice? And, the hoar-frost of the heavens, who hath given it birth?
30 In similitudinem lapidis aquæ durantur, et superficies abyssi constringitur.
Like a stone, are the waters congealed, and, the face of the roaring deep, becometh firm!
31 Numquid conjungere valebis micantes stellas Pleiadas, aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare?
Canst thou bind the fetters of the Pleiades? Or, the bands of Orion, canst thou unloose?
32 Numquid producis luciferum in tempore suo, et vesperum super filios terræ consurgere facis?
Canst thou bring forth the signs of the Zodiac each in its season? Or, the Bear and her Young, canst thou lead?
33 Numquid nosti ordinem cæli, et pones rationem ejus in terra?
Knowest thou, the statutes of the heavens? Or didst thou appoint his dominion over the earth?
34 Numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam, et impetus aquarum operiet te?
Canst thou lift up, to the thick cloud, thy voice, and the overflow of waters cover thee?
35 Numquid mittes fulgura, et ibunt, et revertentia dicent tibi: Adsumus?
Canst thou send forth the lightnings, so that they go, and say to thee, Behold us?
36 Quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam? vel quis dedit gallo intelligentiam?
Who hath put—into cloud-forms—wisdom? Or who hath given—to the meteor—understanding?
37 Quis enarrabit cælorum rationem? et concentum cæli quis dormire faciet?
Who can count the thin clouds, in wisdom? And, the bottles of the heavens, who can empty out;
38 Quando fundebatur pulvis in terra, et glebæ compingebantur?
When the dust is cast into a clod, and the lumps are bound together?
39 Numquid capies leænæ prædam, et animam catulorum ejus implebis,
Wilt thou hunt—for the Lioness—prey? Or, the craving of the Strong Lion, wilt thou satisfy;
40 quando cubant in antris, et in specubus insidiantur?
When they settle down in dens, abide in covert, for lying in wait?
41 Quis præparat corvo escam suam, quando pulli ejus clamant ad Deum, vagantes, eo quod non habeant cibos?
Who prepareth for the Raven his nourishment, —when his young ones—unto GOD—cry out, [when] they wander for lack of food?
