Job 38
1 respondens autem Dominus Iob de turbine dixit
Then Yahweh responded to Job, out of a storm, and said: —
2 quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus inperitis
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 terrae indica mihi si habes intellegentiam
Where wast thou, when I founded the earth? Tell, if thou knowest understanding!
5 quis posuit mensuras eius 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 solidatae sunt aut quis dimisit lapidem angularem eius
Whereon were the pedestals thereof sunk? Or who laid the corner stone thereof; —
7 cum me laudarent simul astra matutina et iubilarent 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 eius et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiae 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 praecepisti diluculo et ostendisti aurorae locum suum
Since thy days [began] hast thou commanded the morning? or caused the dawn to know its place;
13 et tenuisti concutiens extrema terrae 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That their light may be withdrawn from the lawless, and, the lofty arm, be shivered.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 abyssis 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 apertae tibi sunt portae 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 latitudines terrae 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 habitet lux 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 intellegas semitas domus eius
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 quae praeparavi in tempus hostis in diem pugnae 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 aestus 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 pluviae pater vel quis genuit stillas roris
Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29 de cuius utero egressa est glacies et gelu de caelo 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 aquae durantur et superficies abyssi constringitur
Like a stone, are the waters congealed, and, the face of the roaring deep, becometh firm!
31 numquid coniungere valebis micantes stellas Pliadis 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 terrae 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 caeli et pones rationem eius 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 intellegentiam
Who hath put—into cloud-forms—wisdom? Or who hath given—to the meteor—understanding?
37 quis enarravit caelorum rationem et concentum caeli 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 terram et glebae conpingebantur
When the dust is cast into a clod, and the lumps are bound together?
39 numquid capies leaenae praedam et animam catulorum eius 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 praeparat corvo escam suam quando pulli eius ad Deum clamant 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?
