Job 38
1 Then Yahweh responded to Job, out of a storm, and said: —
Respondens autem Dominus Iob de turbine, dixit:
2 Who is it that darkeneth counsel, by words, without knowledge?
Quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus imperitis?
3 Gird, I pray thee—like a strong man—thy loins, that I may ask thee, and inform thou me:
Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos: interrogabo te, et responde mihi.
4 Where wast thou, when I founded the earth? Tell, if thou knowest understanding!
Ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terræ? indica mihi si habes intelligentiam.
5 Who set the measurements thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched out over it a line?
Quis posuit mensuras eius, si nosti? vel quis tetendit super eam lineam?
6 Whereon were the pedestals thereof sunk? Or who laid the corner stone thereof; —
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 Or [who] shut in, with double doors, the sea, when, bursting out of the womb, it came forth;
Quis conclusit ostiis mare, quando erumpebat quasi de vulva procedens:
9 When I put a cloud as the garment thereof, and a thick cloud as the swaddling-band thereof;
Cum ponerem nubem vestimentum eius, et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiæ obvolverem?
10 And brake off for it my boundary, and fixed a bar and double doors;
Circumdedi illud terminis meis, et posui vectem, et ostia:
11 And said—Hitherto, shalt thou come, and no further, —and, here, shalt thou set a limit to the majesty of thy waves?
Et dixi: Usque huc venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos.
12 Since thy days [began] hast thou commanded the morning? or caused the dawn to know its place;
Numquid post ortum tuum præcepisti diluculo, et ostendisti auroræ locum suum?
13 That it might lay hold of the wings of the earth, and the lawless be shaken out of it?
Et tenuisti concutiens extrema terræ, et excussisti impios ex ea?
14 It transformeth itself like the clay of a seal, so that things stand forth like one arrayed;
Restituetur ut lutum signaculum, et stabit sicut vestimentum:
15 That their light may be withdrawn from the lawless, and, the lofty arm, be shivered.
Auferetur ab impiis lux sua, et brachium excelsum confringetur.
16 Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? Or, through the secret recesses of the resounding deep, hast thou wandered?
Numquid ingressus es profunda maris, et in novissimis abyssi deambulasti?
17 Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee? And, the gates of the death-shade, couldst thou descry?
Numquid apertæ sunt tibi portæ mortis, et ostia tenebrosa vidisti?
18 Hast thou well considered, even the breadths of the earth? Tell—if thou knowest it all!
Numquid considerasti latitudinem terræ? indica mihi, si nosti, omnia.
19 Where then is the way, the light shall abide? And, the darkness, where then is its place?
In qua via lux habitet, et tenebrarum quis locus sit:
20 That thou mayest conduct it unto the bound thereof, and that thou mayest perceive the paths to its house.
Ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos, et intelligas semitas domus eius.
21 Thou knowest, for, then, hadst thou been born! And, in number, thy days are many!
Sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses? et numerum dierum tuorum noveras?
22 Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? And, the treasuries of the hail, couldst thou see?
Numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis, aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti,
23 Which I have reserved for a time of distress, for the day of conflict and of war?
Quæ præparavi in tempus hostis, in diem pugnæ et belli?
24 Where then is the way the lightning is parted? The east wind spreadeth itself abroad over the earth.
Per quam viam spargitur lux, dividitur æstus super terram?
25 Who hath cloven—for the torrent—a channel? Or a way for the lightning of thunders;
Quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum, et viam sonantis tonitrui,
26 To give rain over the no-man’s land, the desert, where no son of earth is;
Ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto, ubi nullus mortalium commoratur,
27 To satisfy the wild and the wilderness, to cause to spring forth the meadow of young grass?
Ut impleret inviam et desolatam, et produceret herbas virentes?
28 Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
Quis est pluviæ pater? vel quis genuit stillas roris?
29 Out of whose womb, came forth the ice? And, the hoar-frost of the heavens, who hath given it birth?
De cuius utero egressa est glacies? et gelu de cælo quis genuit?
30 Like a stone, are the waters congealed, and, the face of the roaring deep, becometh firm!
In similitudinem lapidis aquæ durantur, et superficies abyssi constringitur.
31 Canst thou bind the fetters of the Pleiades? Or, the bands of Orion, canst thou unloose?
Numquid coniungere valebis micantes stellas Pleiadas, aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare?
32 Canst thou bring forth the signs of the Zodiac each in its season? Or, the Bear and her Young, canst thou lead?
Numquid producis Luciferum in tempore suo, et Vesperum super filios terræ consurgere facis?
33 Knowest thou, the statutes of the heavens? Or didst thou appoint his dominion over the earth?
Numquid nosti ordinem cæli, et pones rationem eius in terra?
34 Canst thou lift up, to the thick cloud, thy voice, and the overflow of waters cover thee?
Numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam, et impetus aquarum operiet te?
35 Canst thou send forth the lightnings, so that they go, and say to thee, Behold us?
Numquid mittes fulgura, et ibunt, et revertentia dicent tibi: Adsumus?
36 Who hath put—into cloud-forms—wisdom? Or who hath given—to the meteor—understanding?
Quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam? vel quis dedit gallo intelligentiam?
37 Who can count the thin clouds, in wisdom? And, the bottles of the heavens, who can empty out;
Quis enarrabit cælorum rationem, et concentum cæli quis dormire faciet?
38 When the dust is cast into a clod, and the lumps are bound together?
Quando fundebatur pulvis in terra, et glebæ compingebantur?
39 Wilt thou hunt—for the Lioness—prey? Or, the craving of the Strong Lion, wilt thou satisfy;
Numquid capies leænæ prædam, et animam catulorum eius implebis,
40 When they settle down in dens, abide in covert, for lying in wait?
Quando cubant in antris, et in specubus insidiantur?
41 Who prepareth for the Raven his nourishment, —when his young ones—unto GOD—cry out, [when] they wander for lack of food?
Quis præparat corvo escam suam, quando pulli eius clamant ad Deum, vagantes, eo quod non habeant cibos?
