Jobs 38
1 Og Herren svara Job or stormen og sagde:
Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
2 «Kven er det som gjer rådgjerd myrk med ord som reint er utan skyn?
“(Who are you to question what I plan to do?/You have no right/authority to question what I plan to do.) [RHQ] You are speaking ignorantly!
3 Spenn som ein mann ditt belte på, gjev meg på mine spursmål svar.
I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
4 Kvar var du då eg grunna jordi? Seg fram, i fall du greida hev!
(“Where were you/Were you there with me) [long ago] when I (laid the foundations of/created) the earth? Since you know so much, tell me [where you were at that time].
5 Kven sette måli - veit du det? - Og spana målsnor yver henne?
Do you know how I decided how large the earth would be? Do you know who stretched a measuring tape around the earth? Surely [since you think that you know so much, ] you should know that!
6 Kvar vart pelaran’ sette ned? Kven la vel hennar hyrnestein,
What supports the pillars on which the earth rests? When the stars [that shine early] in the morning sang together, and someone put in place the stone that causes the earth to stay in its place, and all the angels shouted joyfully [when they saw that happening], who laid that cornerstone? [Did you?]
7 med alle morgonstjernor kvad, gudssønerne av gleda song?
8 Kven stengde havet inn med dører, då det braut ut or moderfang?
“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
9 Då eg det skyer gav til klæde og myrkeskodd til sveip åt det
It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
10 då eg for det ei grensa sette og trygga ho med port og bom
I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
11 og sagde: «Hit og ikkje lenger! Di byrge bylgja stogge her!»
[I pointed to the shore] and said to the water, ‘I permit you to come up to here, but I do not permit you to come any farther. Your powerful waves must stop there!’
12 Baud du vel dagsprett nokon gong? Gav du morgonroden stad,
“Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
13 so femner kringum ytste jordi, so syndaran’ vart riste av?
Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?
14 Då tek ho form som leir for segl, og all stend greinlegt som ein klædnad.
When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
15 Då misser gudlause sitt ljos, den arm som lyfte seg, vert knekt.
When it becomes daylight, the wicked do not have the darkness [that they like]; [in the daylight] they no longer are able to raise up their arms, ready to hurt people.
16 Kom du til havsens kjeldor fram, hev du på avgrunns-botnen gjenge?
“[Job, ] have you traveled to the springs [in the bottom of the ocean] from which the water in the seas comes? Have you investigated/explored the very bottom of the oceans?
17 Hev daude-portarn’ vist seg for deg? Ja, såg du daudeskuggens portar?
Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
18 Og hev du vel jordviddi set? Kjenner du alt i hop, seg fram!
Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
19 Kvar finn ein veg dit ljoset bur? Og kvar hev myrkret heimen sin?
“Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
20 So du kann henta deim til grensa og vita veg til deira hus.
Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
21 Du veit det, du vart fødd den gong, og dagetalet ditt er stort.
I am sure that you know these things, because you [talk as though you] were born before the time when all things were created; you [must] be very old!
22 Kom du dit snøen uppspard ligg? Og såg du forrådshus for haglet,
“Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
23 som eg til trengsle-tidi gøymer, til dagarne med kamp og krig?
I store the snow and the hail [in order that I can use them to help my people] when [they have] troubles, in times when [they are fighting] wars [DOU].
24 Kva veg tru ljoset deiler seg, austanvinden spreider seg på jordi?
And where is the road to the place from which I cause the lightning to flash? Where is the place from where the east wind begins to blow over all the earth?
25 Kven laga renna vel for regnet og brøytte veg for torestrålen,
Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
26 so væta kjem til aude land, til øydemark der ingen bur,
Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
27 til kveikjing for den nakne heid, so gras kann gro der fyrr var bert?
Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
28 Skal tru um regnet hev ein far? Kven avlar vel doggdroparne?
Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
29 Kva moderliv kom isen or? Kven avla rim i himmelrømd,
And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?
30 når vatnet hardnar liksom stein, når havflata stivnar til?
[In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
31 Bind du vel bandet um Sjustjerna? Løyser du lekkjet av Orion?
“[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
32 Set du rett tid for dyreringen? Og driv du Bjørnen og hans ungar?
Can you tell the stars when they should shine? Can you guide [the stars in the groups in the northern sky whose names are] the Big Bear and the Little Bear?
33 Kjenner du himmelleverne? Gav du han yver jordi magt?
Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
34 Kann røysti di til skyi nå, so vatnet fløymer yver deg?
“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
35 Byd du vel ljoni fara ut, so dei deg svarar: «Her er me?»
Can you cause flashes of lightning to come down and strike where you want it to strike? Do those flashes say to you, ‘Where do you want us to strike next?’
36 Kven la i myrke skyer visdom? Kven gav forstand til hildringi?
Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
37 Kven tel med visdom skyerne? Kven tømer himmelfati ut,
And who is skilled/wise enough to be able to count the clouds? Who can tilt the jugs of water in the sky [to cause the rain to fall],
38 når turre mold vert samanrend, jordklumpar kleimer seg i hop?
with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
39 Gjeng du for løva etter rov og gjev ungløvor deira mette,
“When a lioness and her cubs crouch in their dens or hide in a thicket, [waiting for some animal to pass by that they can kill, ] can you find animals for a lioness to kill so that [she and] her cubs can [eat the meat and] not be hungry any more?
40 medan dei gøymer seg i holor og ligg på lur i busk og kjørr?
41 Kven yter ramnen føda hans, når upp til Gud hans ungar ropar og flakkar kringum utan mat?
Who provides dead animals for crows, when the baby crows are calling out to me [for food], [when they are so weak] because of their lack of food [that] they (stagger around/can hardly stand up) [in their nests]?”
