約伯記 38
1 那時，耶和華從旋風中回答約伯說：
Then Yahweh called to Job out of a fierce storm and said,
2 誰用無知的言語使我的旨意暗昧不明？
“Who is this who brings darkness to plans by means of words without knowledge?
3 你要如勇士束腰； 我問你，你可以指示我。
Now gird up your loins like a man for I will ask you questions, and you must answer me.
4 我立大地根基的時候，你在哪裏呢？ 你若有聰明，只管說吧！
Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tell me, if you have so much understanding.
5 你若曉得就說，是誰定地的尺度？ 是誰把準繩拉在其上？
Who determined its dimensions? Tell me, if you know. Who stretched the measuring line over it?
6 地的根基安置在何處？ 地的角石是誰安放的？
On what were its foundations laid? Who laid its cornerstone
7 那時，晨星一同歌唱； 上帝的眾子也都歡呼。
when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 海水衝出，如出胎胞， 那時誰將它關閉呢？
Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst out, as if it had come out of the womb—
9 是我用雲彩當海的衣服， 用幽暗當包裹它的布，
when I made clouds its clothing, and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
10 為它定界限， 又安門和閂，
That was when I marked out for the sea my boundary, and when I placed its bars and doors,
11 說：你只可到這裏，不可越過； 你狂傲的浪要到此止住。
and when I said to it, 'You may come this far, but no farther; here is where I will put a boundary to the pride of your waves.'
12 你自生以來，曾命定晨光， 使清晨的日光知道本位，
Have you given orders to the morning, or caused the dawn to know its place,
13 叫這光普照地的四極， 將惡人從其中驅逐出來嗎？
so that it might take hold of the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
14 因這光，地面改變如泥上印印， 萬物出現如衣服一樣。
The earth is changed in appearance like clay changes under a seal; all things on it stand out clearly like the folds of a piece of clothing.
15 亮光不照惡人； 強橫的膀臂也必折斷。
From wicked people their 'light' is taken away; their uplifted arm is broken.
16 你曾進到海源， 或在深淵的隱密處行走嗎？
Have you gone to the sources of the waters of the sea? Have you walked in the lowest parts of the deep?
17 死亡的門曾向你顯露嗎？ 死蔭的門你曾見過嗎？
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18 地的廣大你能明透嗎？ 你若全知道，只管說吧！
Have you understood the earth in its expanse? Tell me, if you know it all.
19 光明的居所從何而至？ 黑暗的本位在於何處？
Where is the way to the resting place of light— as for darkness, where is its place?
20 你能帶到本境， 能看明其室之路嗎？
Can you lead light and darkness to their places of work? Can you find the way back to their houses for them?
21 你總知道， 因為你早已生在世上， 你日子的數目也多。
Undoubtedly you know, for you were born then; the number of your days is so large!
22 你曾進入雪庫， 或見過雹倉嗎？
Have you entered the storehouses for the snow, or have you seen the storehouses for the hail,
23 這雪雹乃是我為降災， 並打仗和爭戰的日子所預備的。
these things that I have kept for times of trouble, for days of battle and war?
24 光亮從何路分開？ 東風從何路分散遍地？
What is the path to where the lightning bolts are distributed or to where the winds are scattered from the east over the earth?
25 誰為雨水分道？ 誰為雷電開路？
Who has created the channels for the floods of rain, or who has made a path for the thunder,
26 使雨降在無人之地、 無人居住的曠野？
to cause it to rain on lands where no person exists, and on the wilderness, in which there is no one,
27 使荒廢淒涼之地得以豐足， 青草得以發生？
to satisfy the devastated and desolate places, and to make the ground sprout with grass?
28 雨有父嗎？ 露水珠是誰生的呢？
Does the rain have a father, or, who fathers the drops of dew?
29 冰出於誰的胎？ 天上的霜是誰生的呢？
Out of whose womb did the ice come? Who bore the white frost out of the sky?
30 諸水堅硬如石頭； 深淵之面凝結成冰。
The waters hide themselves and become like stone; the surface of the deep becomes frozen.
31 你能繫住昴星的結嗎？ 能解開參星的帶嗎？
Can you fasten chains on the Pleiades, or undo the cords of Orion?
32 你能按時領出十二宮嗎？ 能引導北斗和隨它的眾星嗎？
Can you lead the constellations to appear at their proper times? Can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 你知道天的定例嗎？ 能使地歸在天的權下嗎？
Do you know the regulations of the sky? Could you set in place the sky's rule over the earth?
34 你能向雲彩揚起聲來， 使傾盆的雨遮蓋你嗎？
Can you raise your voice up to the clouds, so that an abundance of rainwater may cover you?
35 你能發出閃電，叫它行去， 使它對你說：我們在這裏？
Can you send out bolts of lightning that they may go out, that they say to you, 'Here we are'?
36 誰將智慧放在懷中？ 誰將聰明賜於心內？
Who has put wisdom in the clouds or has given understanding to the mists?
37 誰能用智慧數算雲彩呢？ 塵土聚集成團，土塊緊緊結連； 那時，誰能傾倒天上的瓶呢？
Who can number the clouds by his skill? Who can pour out the water skins of the sky
when the dust runs into a hard mass and the clods of earth clump tightly together?
39 母獅子在洞中蹲伏， 少壯獅子在隱密處埋伏； 你能為牠們抓取食物， 使牠們飽足嗎？
Can you hunt down a victim for a lioness or satisfy the appetite of her young lion cubs
when they are crouching in their dens and sheltering in hiding to lie in wait?
41 烏鴉之雛因無食物飛來飛去，哀告上帝； 那時，誰為牠預備食物呢？
Who provides victims for the ravens when their young ones cry out to God and stagger about for lack of food?
