Job 38
1 Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
μετὰ δὲ τὸ παύσασθαι Ελιουν τῆς λέξεως εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ Ιωβ διὰ λαίλαπος καὶ νεφῶν
2 “(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!
τίς οὗτος ὁ κρύπτων με βουλήν συνέχων δὲ ῥήματα ἐν καρδίᾳ ἐμὲ δὲ οἴεται κρύπτειν
3 I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
ζῶσαι ὥσπερ ἀνὴρ τὴν ὀσφύν σου ἐρωτήσω δέ σε σὺ δέ μοι ἀποκρίθητι
4 (“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].
ποῦ ἦς ἐν τῷ θεμελιοῦν με τὴν γῆν ἀπάγγειλον δέ μοι εἰ ἐπίστῃ σύνεσιν
5 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!
τίς ἔθετο τὰ μέτρα αὐτῆς εἰ οἶδας ἢ τίς ὁ ἐπαγαγὼν σπαρτίον ἐπ’ αὐτῆς
6 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?]
ἐπὶ τίνος οἱ κρίκοι αὐτῆς πεπήγασιν τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ βαλὼν λίθον γωνιαῖον ἐπ’ αὐτῆς
ὅτε ἐγενήθησαν ἄστρα ᾔνεσάν με φωνῇ μεγάλῃ πάντες ἄγγελοί μου
8 “When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
ἔφραξα δὲ θάλασσαν πύλαις ὅτε ἐμαίμασσεν ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς αὐτῆς ἐκπορευομένη
9 It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
ἐθέμην δὲ αὐτῇ νέφος ἀμφίασιν ὁμίχλῃ δὲ αὐτὴν ἐσπαργάνωσα
10 I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
ἐθέμην δὲ αὐτῇ ὅρια περιθεὶς κλεῖθρα καὶ πύλας
11 [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!’
εἶπα δὲ αὐτῇ μέχρι τούτου ἐλεύσῃ καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβήσῃ ἀλλ’ ἐν σεαυτῇ συντριβήσεταί σου τὰ κύματα
12 “Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
ἦ ἐπὶ σοῦ συντέταχα φέγγος πρωινόν ἑωσφόρος δὲ εἶδεν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τάξιν
13 Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?
ἐπιλαβέσθαι πτερύγων γῆς ἐκτινάξαι ἀσεβεῖς ἐξ αὐτῆς
14 When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
ἦ σὺ λαβὼν γῆν πηλὸν ἔπλασας ζῷον καὶ λαλητὸν αὐτὸν ἔθου ἐπὶ γῆς
15 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.
ἀφεῖλας δὲ ἀπὸ ἀσεβῶν τὸ φῶς βραχίονα δὲ ὑπερηφάνων συνέτριψας
16 “[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?
ἦλθες δὲ ἐπὶ πηγὴν θαλάσσης ἐν δὲ ἴχνεσιν ἀβύσσου περιεπάτησας
17 Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
ἀνοίγονται δέ σοι φόβῳ πύλαι θανάτου πυλωροὶ δὲ ᾅδου ἰδόντες σε ἔπτηξαν
18 Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
νενουθέτησαι δὲ τὸ εὖρος τῆς ὑπ’ οὐρανόν ἀνάγγειλον δή μοι πόση τίς ἐστιν
19 “Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
ποίᾳ δὲ γῇ αὐλίζεται τὸ φῶς σκότους δὲ ποῖος ὁ τόπος
20 Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
εἰ ἀγάγοις με εἰς ὅρια αὐτῶν εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐπίστασαι τρίβους αὐτῶν
21 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!
οἶδα ἄρα ὅτι τότε γεγέννησαι ἀριθμὸς δὲ ἐτῶν σου πολύς
22 “Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
ἦλθες δὲ ἐπὶ θησαυροὺς χιόνος θησαυροὺς δὲ χαλάζης ἑόρακας
23 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].
ἀπόκειται δέ σοι εἰς ὥραν ἐχθρῶν εἰς ἡμέραν πολέμου καὶ μάχης
24 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?
πόθεν δὲ ἐκπορεύεται πάχνη ἢ διασκεδάννυται νότος εἰς τὴν ὑπ’ οὐρανόν
25 Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
τίς δὲ ἡτοίμασεν ὑετῷ λάβρῳ ῥύσιν ὁδὸν δὲ κυδοιμῶν
26 Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
τοῦ ὑετίσαι ἐπὶ γῆν οὗ οὐκ ἀνήρ ἔρημον οὗ οὐχ ὑπάρχει ἄνθρωπος ἐν αὐτῇ
27 Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
τοῦ χορτάσαι ἄβατον καὶ ἀοίκητον καὶ τοῦ ἐκβλαστῆσαι ἔξοδον χλόης
28 Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
τίς ἐστιν ὑετοῦ πατήρ τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ τετοκὼς βώλους δρόσου
29 And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?
ἐκ γαστρὸς δὲ τίνος ἐκπορεύεται ὁ κρύσταλλος πάχνην δὲ ἐν οὐρανῷ τίς τέτοκεν
30 [In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
ἣ καταβαίνει ὥσπερ ὕδωρ ῥέον πρόσωπον δὲ ἀβύσσου τίς ἔπηξεν
31 “[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
συνῆκας δὲ δεσμὸν Πλειάδος καὶ φραγμὸν Ὠρίωνος ἤνοιξας
32 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?
ἦ διανοίξεις μαζουρωθ ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἕσπερον ἐπὶ κόμης αὐτοῦ ἄξεις αὐτά
33 Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
ἐπίστασαι δὲ τροπὰς οὐρανοῦ ἢ τὰ ὑπ’ οὐρανὸν ὁμοθυμαδὸν γινόμενα
34 “Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
καλέσεις δὲ νέφος φωνῇ καὶ τρόμῳ ὕδατος λάβρῳ ὑπακούσεταί σου
35 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?’
ἀποστελεῖς δὲ κεραυνοὺς καὶ πορεύσονται ἐροῦσιν δέ σοι τί ἐστιν
36 Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
τίς δὲ ἔδωκεν γυναιξὶν ὑφάσματος σοφίαν ἢ ποικιλτικὴν ἐπιστήμην
37 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],
τίς δὲ ὁ ἀριθμῶν νέφη σοφίᾳ οὐρανὸν δὲ εἰς γῆν ἔκλινεν
38 with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
κέχυται δὲ ὥσπερ γῆ κονία κεκόλληκα δὲ αὐτὸν ὥσπερ λίθῳ κύβον
39 “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?
θηρεύσεις δὲ λέουσιν βοράν ψυχὰς δὲ δρακόντων ἐμπλήσεις
δεδοίκασιν γὰρ ἐν κοίταις αὐτῶν κάθηνται δὲ ἐν ὕλαις ἐνεδρεύοντες
41 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]?”
τίς δὲ ἡτοίμασεν κόρακι βοράν νεοσσοὶ γὰρ αὐτοῦ πρὸς κύριον κεκράγασιν πλανώμενοι τὰ σῖτα ζητοῦντες
