< Job 38 >

1 Respondens autem Dominus Iob de turbine, dixit:
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
2 Quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus imperitis?
Who [is] this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos: interrogabo te, et responde mihi.
Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
4 Ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terræ? indica mihi si habes intelligentiam.
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Quis posuit mensuras eius, si nosti? vel quis tetendit super eam lineam?
Who hath laid the measures of it, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 Super quo bases illius solidatæ sunt? aut quis demisit lapidem angularem eius,
Upon what are the foundations of it fastened? or who laid its corner stone;
7 Cum me laudarent simul astra matutina, et iubilarent omnes filii Dei?
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Quis conclusit ostiis mare, quando erumpebat quasi de vulva procedens:
Or [who] shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth, [as if] it had issued out of the womb?
9 Cum ponerem nubem vestimentum eius, et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiæ obvolverem?
When I made a cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it,
10 Circumdedi illud terminis meis, et posui vectem, et ostia:
And broke up for it my decreed [place], and set bars and doors,
11 Et dixi: Usque huc venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos.
And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.
12 Numquid post ortum tuum præcepisti diluculo, et ostendisti auroræ locum suum?
Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; [and] caused the day-spring to know its place;
13 Et tenuisti concutiens extrema terræ, et excussisti impios ex ea?
That it might take hold of the ends of earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14 Restituetur ut lutum signaculum, et stabit sicut vestimentum:
It is turned as clay [to] the seal; and they stand as a garment.
15 Auferetur ab impiis lux sua, et brachium excelsum confringetur.
And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the high arm shall be broken.
16 Numquid ingressus es profunda maris, et in novissimis abyssi deambulasti?
Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
17 Numquid apertæ sunt tibi portæ mortis, et ostia tenebrosa vidisti?
Have the gates of death been opened to thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shades of death?
18 Numquid considerasti latitudinem terræ? indica mihi, si nosti, omnia.
Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.
19 In qua via lux habitet, et tenebrarum quis locus sit:
Where [is] the way [where] light dwelleth? and [as for] darkness, where [is] its place,
20 Ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos, et intelligas semitas domus eius.
That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths [to] its house?
21 Sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses? et numerum dierum tuorum noveras?
Knowest thou [it], because thou wast then born? or [because] the number of thy days [is] great?
22 Numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis, aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti,
Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
23 Quæ præparavi in tempus hostis, in diem pugnæ et belli?
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24 Per quam viam spargitur lux, dividitur æstus super terram?
By what way is the light parted, [which] scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
25 Quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum, et viam sonantis tonitrui,
Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
26 Ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto, ubi nullus mortalium commoratur,
To cause it to rain on the earth, [where] no man [is]; [on] the wilderness in which [there is] no man;
27 Ut impleret inviam et desolatam, et produceret herbas virentes?
To satisfy the desolate and waste [ground]; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
28 Quis est pluviæ pater? vel quis genuit stillas roris?
Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of the dew?
29 De cuius utero egressa est glacies? et gelu de cælo quis genuit?
Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
30 In similitudinem lapidis aquæ durantur, et superficies abyssi constringitur.
The waters are hid as [with] a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 Numquid coniungere valebis micantes stellas Pleiadas, aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare?
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Numquid producis Luciferum in tempore suo, et Vesperum super filios terræ consurgere facis?
Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in its season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with its sons?
33 Numquid nosti ordinem cæli, et pones rationem eius in terra?
Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set its dominion on the earth?
34 Numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam, et impetus aquarum operiet te?
Canst thou lift thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Numquid mittes fulgura, et ibunt, et revertentia dicent tibi: Adsumus?
Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say to thee, Here we [are]?
36 Quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam? vel quis dedit gallo intelligentiam?
Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?
37 Quis enarrabit cælorum rationem, et concentum cæli quis dormire faciet?
Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
38 Quando fundebatur pulvis in terra, et glebæ compingebantur?
When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
39 Numquid capies leænæ prædam, et animam catulorum eius implebis,
Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40 Quando cubant in antris, et in specubus insidiantur?
When they couch in [their] dens, [and] abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 Quis præparat corvo escam suam, quando pulli eius clamant ad Deum, vagantes, eo quod non habeant cibos?
Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry to God, they wander for want of food.

< Job 38 >