Job 38
1 respondens autem Dominus Iob de turbine dixit
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,
2 quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus inperitis
“Who is this who questions my wisdom by talking so ignorantly?
3 accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos interrogabo te et responde mihi
Prepare yourself, be strong, for I am going to question you, and you must answer me.
4 ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terrae indica mihi si habes intellegentiam
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have such knowledge!
5 quis posuit mensuras eius si nosti vel quis tetendit super eam lineam
Who decided its dimensions? Don't you know? Who stretched out a measuring line?
6 super quo bases illius solidatae sunt aut quis dimisit lapidem angularem eius
What do its foundations rest upon? Who laid its cornerstone,
7 cum me laudarent simul astra matutina et iubilarent omnes filii Dei
when the stars of the morning sang together and all the angels shouted for joy.
8 quis conclusit ostiis mare quando erumpebat quasi de vulva procedens
Who laid down the boundaries of the sea when it was born?
9 cum ponerem nubem vestimentum eius et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiae obvolverem
Who clothed it with clouds, and wrapped it in a blanket of deep darkness?
10 circumdedi illud terminis meis et posui vectem et ostia
I set its limits, marking its borders.
11 et dixi usque huc venies et non procedes amplius et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos
I said, ‘You may come here, but no farther. Here is where your proud waves stop.’
12 numquid post ortum tuum praecepisti diluculo et ostendisti aurorae locum suum
During your lifetime, have you ever ordered the morning to begin?
13 et tenuisti concutiens extrema terrae et excussisti impios ex ea
Have you ever told the dawn where to appear that it might take hold of the corners of the earth and shake the wicked out?
14 restituetur ut lutum signaculum et stabit sicut vestimentum
The earth is changed like clay under a seal; its features stand out like a crumpled garment.
15 auferetur ab impiis lux sua et brachium excelsum confringetur
The ‘light’ of the wicked is taken away from them; their acts of violence are stopped.
16 numquid ingressus es profunda maris et in novissimis abyssis deambulasti
Have you entered the sources of the sea? Have you explored their hidden depths?
17 numquid apertae tibi sunt portae mortis et ostia tenebrosa vidisti
Have you been shown where the gates of death are? Have you seen the gates of utter darkness?
18 numquid considerasti latitudines terrae indica mihi si nosti omnia
Do you know how far the earth extends? Tell me if you know all this!
19 in qua via habitet lux et tenebrarum quis locus sit
In which direction does light live? Where does darkness dwell?
20 ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos et intellegas semitas domus eius
Can you take them home? Do you know the way to where they live?
21 sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses et numerum dierum tuorum noveras
Of course you know, because you were already born then! You've lived so long!
22 numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti
Have you been to where the snow is kept? Have you seen where the hail is held?
23 quae praeparavi in tempus hostis in diem pugnae et belli
I have stored them up for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle.
24 per quam viam spargitur lux dividitur aestus super terram
Do you know the way to where light comes from, or to where the east wind blows over the earth?
25 quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum et viam sonantis tonitrui
Who cuts a channel for the rain to flow? Who creates a path for the thunderbolt?
26 ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto ubi nullus mortalium commoratur
Who brings rain to an uninhabited land, to a desert where nobody lives,
27 ut impleret inviam et desolatam et produceret herbas virentes
to water a parched wasteland to make the green grass grow?
28 quis est pluviae pater vel quis genuit stillas roris
Does the rain have a father? Who was the father of the dewdrops?
29 de cuius utero egressa est glacies et gelu de caelo quis genuit
Who was the mother of ice? Does the frost of the air have a mother?
30 in similitudinem lapidis aquae durantur et superficies abyssi constringitur
Water turns into rock-hard ice; its surface freezes solid.
31 numquid coniungere valebis micantes stellas Pliadis aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare
Can you tie together the stars of the Pleiades? Can you loosen the belt of the Orion constellation?
32 numquid producis luciferum in tempore suo et vesperum super filios terrae consurgere facis
Can you guide the stars of Mazzaroth at the right time? Can you direct the Great Bear constellation and its other stars?
33 numquid nosti ordinem caeli et pones rationem eius in terra
Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you apply them to the earth?
34 numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam et impetus aquarum operiet te
Can you shout to the clouds and command them to pour rain down on you?
35 numquid mittes fulgura et ibunt et revertentia dicent tibi adsumus
Can you send out bolts of lightning and direct them, so that they can answer you saying, ‘Here we are’?
36 quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam vel quis dedit gallo intellegentiam
Who has placed wisdom inside people? Who has given understanding to the mind?
37 quis enarravit caelorum rationem et concentum caeli quis dormire faciet
Who is clever enough to count the clouds? Who can turn heaven's water jars on their sides
38 quando fundebatur pulvis in terram et glebae conpingebantur
when the dust has baked into a solid mass?
39 numquid capies leaenae praedam et animam catulorum eius implebis
Can you hunt prey for the lion? Can you feed the lion cubs
40 quando cubant in antris et in specubus insidiantur
as they crouch down in their dens and lie in wait in the bushes?
41 quis praeparat corvo escam suam quando pulli eius ad Deum clamant vagantes eo quod non habeant cibos
Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God, weak from starvation?
