Job 38
1 Respondens autem Dominus Job de turbine, dixit:
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,
2 Quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus imperitis?
“Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos: interrogabo te, et responde mihi.
Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!
4 Ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terræ? indica mihi, si habes intelligentiam.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
5 Quis posuit mensuras ejus, si nosti? vel quis tetendit super eam lineam?
Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
6 Super quo bases illius solidatæ sunt? aut quis demisit lapidem angularem ejus,
What were its foundations fastened on? Or who laid its cornerstone,
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 up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb,
9 cum ponerem nubem vestimentum ejus, et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiæ obvolverem?
when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 Circumdedi illud terminis meis, et posui vectem et ostia,
marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors,
11 et dixi: Usque huc venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos.
and said, ‘You may come here, but no further. Your proud waves shall be stopped here’?
12 Numquid post ortum tuum præcepisti diluculo, et ostendisti auroræ locum suum?
“Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 Et tenuisti concutiens extrema terræ, et excussisti impios ex ea?
that it might take 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 under the seal, and presented as a garment.
15 auferetur ab impiis lux sua, et brachium excelsum confringetur.
From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
16 Numquid ingressus es profunda maris, et in novissimis abyssi deambulasti?
“Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Numquid apertæ sunt tibi portæ mortis, et ostia tenebrosa vidisti?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18 Numquid considerasti latitudinem terræ? indica mihi, si nosti, omnia:
Have you comprehended the earth in its width? Declare, if you know it all.
19 in qua via lux habitet, et tenebrarum quis locus sit:
“What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,
20 ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos, et intelligas semitas domus ejus.
that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?
21 Sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses, et numerum dierum tuorum noveras?
Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!
22 Numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis, aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti,
Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses 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?
By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth?
25 Quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum, et viam sonantis tonitrui,
Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm,
26 ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto, ubi nullus mortalium commoratur;
to cause it to rain on a land where there is no man, on the wilderness, in which there is no man,
27 ut impleret inviam et desolatam, et produceret herbas virentes?
to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to grow?
28 Quis est pluviæ pater? vel quis genuit stillas roris?
Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew?
29 De cujus utero egressa est glacies? et gelu de cælo quis genuit?
Whose womb did the ice come out of? Who has given birth to the gray frost of the sky?
30 In similitudinem lapidis aquæ durantur, et superficies abyssi constringitur.
The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen.
31 Numquid conjungere valebis micantes stellas Pleiadas, aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare?
“Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?
32 Numquid producis luciferum in tempore suo, et vesperum super filios terræ consurgere facis?
Can you lead the constellations out in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
33 Numquid nosti ordinem cæli, et pones rationem ejus in terra?
Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
34 Numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam, et impetus aquarum operiet te?
“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you?
35 Numquid mittes fulgura, et ibunt, et revertentia dicent tibi: Adsumus?
Can you send out lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam? vel quis dedit gallo intelligentiam?
Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
37 Quis enarrabit cælorum rationem? et concentum cæli quis dormire faciet?
Who can count the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the containers of the sky,
38 Quando fundebatur pulvis in terra, et glebæ compingebantur?
when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?
39 Numquid capies leænæ prædam, et animam catulorum ejus implebis,
“Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 quando cubant in antris, et in specubus insidiantur?
when they crouch 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 provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
