Job 38
1 Then spake Jehovah to Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
Respondens autem Dominus Iob de turbine, dixit:
2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
Quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus imperitis?
3 Gird up thy loins like a man! I will ask thee, and answer thou me!
Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos: interrogabo te, et responde mihi.
4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding!
Ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terræ? indica mihi si habes intelligentiam.
5 Who fixed its dimensions, that thou shouldst know it! Or who stretched out the line upon it?
Quis posuit mensuras eius, si nosti? vel quis tetendit super eam lineam?
6 Upon what were its foundations fixed? And who laid its corner-stone,
Super quo bases illius solidatæ sunt? aut quis demisit lapidem angularem eius,
7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Cum me laudarent simul astra matutina, et iubilarent omnes filii Dei?
8 And who shut up the sea with doors, When it burst forth as from the womb?
Quis conclusit ostiis mare, quando erumpebat quasi de vulva procedens:
9 When I made the clouds its mantle, And thick darkness its swaddling-band;
Cum ponerem nubem vestimentum eius, et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiæ obvolverem?
10 When I appointed for it my bound, And fixed for it bars and doors;
Circumdedi illud terminis meis, et posui vectem, et ostia:
11 And said, Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther, And here shall thy proud waves be stayed!
Et dixi: Usque huc venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos.
12 Hast thou, in thy life, given charge to the morning, Or caused the day-spring to know its place,
Numquid post ortum tuum præcepisti diluculo, et ostendisti auroræ locum suum?
13 That it should lay hold of the ends of the earth, And shake the wicked out of it?
Et tenuisti concutiens extrema terræ, et excussisti impios ex ea?
14 It is changed as clay by the seal; And all things stand forth as in rich apparel.
Restituetur ut lutum signaculum, et stabit sicut vestimentum:
15 But from the wicked their light is withheld, And the high-raised arm is broken.
Auferetur ab impiis lux sua, et brachium excelsum confringetur.
16 Hast thou visited the springs of the sea, And walked through the recesses of the deep?
Numquid ingressus es profunda maris, et in novissimis abyssi deambulasti?
17 Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee, And hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Numquid apertæ sunt tibi portæ mortis, et ostia tenebrosa vidisti?
18 Hast thou surveyed the breadth of the earth? Declare, if thou knowest it all!
Numquid considerasti latitudinem terræ? indica mihi, si nosti, omnia.
19 Where is the way to the abode of light? And darkness—where is its dwelling-place?
In qua via lux habitet, et tenebrarum quis locus sit:
20 That thou shouldst lead it to its boundary, And that thou shouldst know the paths to its mansion!
Ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos, et intelligas semitas domus eius.
21 Surely thou knowest; for thou wast then born! And the number of thy years is great!
Sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses? et numerum dierum tuorum noveras?
22 Hast thou visited the storehouses of the snow, Or seen the treasuries of the hail,
Numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis, aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti,
23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, —Against the day of battle and war?
Quæ præparavi in tempus hostis, in diem pugnæ et belli?
24 What is the way to where light is distributed, And the east wind spread abroad upon the earth?
Per quam viam spargitur lux, dividitur æstus super terram?
25 Who hath prepared channels for the rain, And a path for the thunder-flash,
Quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum, et viam sonantis tonitrui,
26 To give rain to the land without an inhabitant, To the wilderness wherein is no man;
Ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto, ubi nullus mortalium commoratur,
27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, And cause the tender herb to spring forth?
Ut impleret inviam et desolatam, et produceret herbas virentes?
28 Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of the dew?
Quis est pluviæ pater? vel quis genuit stillas roris?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? And who hath gendered the hoar-frost of heaven?
De cuius utero egressa est glacies? et gelu de cælo quis genuit?
30 The waters are hid as under stone, And the face of the deep becometh solid.
In similitudinem lapidis aquæ durantur, et superficies abyssi constringitur.
31 Canst thou fasten the bands of the Pleiades, Or loosen the chains of Orion?
Numquid coniungere valebis micantes stellas Pleiadas, aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare?
32 Canst thou lead forth the Signs in their season, Or guide the Bear with her sons?
Numquid producis Luciferum in tempore suo, et Vesperum super filios terræ consurgere facis?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Hast thou appointed their dominion over the earth?
Numquid nosti ordinem cæli, et pones rationem eius in terra?
34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, So that abundance of waters will cover thee?
Numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam, et impetus aquarum operiet te?
35 Canst thou send forth lightnings, so that they will go, And say to thee, “Here we are”?
Numquid mittes fulgura, et ibunt, et revertentia dicent tibi: Adsumus?
36 Who hath put understanding in the reins, And given intelligence to the mind?
Quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam? vel quis dedit gallo intelligentiam?
37 Who numbereth the clouds in wisdom? And who poureth out the bottles of heaven,
Quis enarrabit cælorum rationem, et concentum cæli quis dormire faciet?
38 When the dust floweth into a molten mass, And the clods cleave fast together?
Quando fundebatur pulvis in terra, et glebæ compingebantur?
39 Canst thou hunt prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the hunger of the young lions,
Numquid capies leænæ prædam, et animam catulorum eius implebis,
40 When they couch in their dens, And lie in wait in the thicket?
Quando cubant in antris, et in specubus insidiantur?
41 Who provideth for the raven his food, When his young ones cry unto God, While they wander about without food?
Quis præparat corvo escam suam, quando pulli eius clamant ad Deum, vagantes, eo quod non habeant cibos?
