Job 38
1 respondens autem Dominus Iob de turbine dixit
And after Elius had ceased from speaking, the Lord spoke to Job through the whirlwind and clouds, [saying],
2 quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus inperitis
Who is this that hides counsel from me, and confines words in [his] heart, and thinks to conceal [them] from me?
3 accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos interrogabo te et responde mihi
Gird your loins like a man; and I will ask you, and do you answer me.
4 ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terrae indica mihi si habes intellegentiam
Where was you when I founded the earth? tell me now, if you have knowledge,
5 quis posuit mensuras eius si nosti vel quis tetendit super eam lineam
who set the measures of it, if you know? or who stretched a line upon it?
6 super quo bases illius solidatae sunt aut quis dimisit lapidem angularem eius
On what are its rings fastened? and who is he that laid the corner-stone upon it?
7 cum me laudarent simul astra matutina et iubilarent omnes filii Dei
When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice.
8 quis conclusit ostiis mare quando erumpebat quasi de vulva procedens
And I shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed out, coming forth out its mother's womb.
9 cum ponerem nubem vestimentum eius et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiae obvolverem
And I made a cloud its clothing, and swathed it in mist.
10 circumdedi illud terminis meis et posui vectem et ostia
And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates.
11 et dixi usque huc venies et non procedes amplius et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos
And I said to it, Hitherto shall you come, but you shall not go beyond, but your waves shall be confined within you.
12 numquid post ortum tuum praecepisti diluculo et ostendisti aurorae locum suum
Or did I order the morning light in your time; and [did] the morning star [then first] see his appointed place;
13 et tenuisti concutiens extrema terrae et excussisti impios ex ea
to lay hold of the extremities of the earth, to cast out the ungodly out of it?
14 restituetur ut lutum signaculum et stabit sicut vestimentum
Or did you take clay of the ground, and form a living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth?
15 auferetur ab impiis lux sua et brachium excelsum confringetur
And have you removed light from the ungodly, and crushed the arm of the proud?
16 numquid ingressus es profunda maris et in novissimis abyssis deambulasti
Or have you gone to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the deep?
17 numquid apertae tibi sunt portae mortis et ostia tenebrosa vidisti
And do the gates of death open to you for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw you? (questioned)
18 numquid considerasti latitudines terrae indica mihi si nosti omnia
And have you been instructed in the breadth of the [whole earth] under heaven? tell me now, what is the extent of it?
19 in qua via habitet lux et tenebrarum quis locus sit
And in what kind of a land does the light dwell? and of what kind is the place of darkness?
20 ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos et intellegas semitas domus eius
If you could bring me to their [utmost] boundaries, and if also you know their paths;
21 sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses et numerum dierum tuorum noveras
I know then that you were born at that time, and the number of your years is great.
22 numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti
But have you gone to the treasures of snow? and have you seen the treasures of hail?
23 quae praeparavi in tempus hostis in diem pugnae et belli
And is there a store [of them], for you against the time of [your] enemies, for the day of wars and battle?
24 per quam viam spargitur lux dividitur aestus super terram
And whence proceeds the frost? or [whence] is the south wind dispersed over the [whole world] under heaven?
25 quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum et viam sonantis tonitrui
And who prepared a course for the violent rain, and a way for the thunders;
26 ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto ubi nullus mortalium commoratur
to rain upon the land where [there is] no man, the wilderness, where there is not a man in it; so as to feed the untrodden and uninhabited [land],
27 ut impleret inviam et desolatam et produceret herbas virentes
and cause it to send forth a crop of green herbs?
28 quis est pluviae pater vel quis genuit stillas roris
Who is the rain's father? and who has generated the drops of dew?
29 de cuius utero egressa est glacies et gelu de caelo quis genuit
And out of whose womb comes the ice? and who has produced the frost in the sky,
30 in similitudinem lapidis aquae durantur et superficies abyssi constringitur
which descends like flowing water? who has terrified the face of the ungodly?
31 numquid coniungere valebis micantes stellas Pliadis aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare
And do you understand the band of Pleias, and have you opened the barrier of Orion?
32 numquid producis luciferum in tempore suo et vesperum super filios terrae consurgere facis
Or will you reveal Mazuroth in his season, and the evening star with his rays? Will you guide them?
33 numquid nosti ordinem caeli et pones rationem eius in terra
And know you the changes of heaven, or the events which take place together under heaven?
34 numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam et impetus aquarum operiet te
And will you call a cloud with your voice, and will it obey you with a violent shower of much rain?
35 numquid mittes fulgura et ibunt et revertentia dicent tibi adsumus
And will you send lightnings, and they shall go? and shall they say to you, What is [your pleasure]?
36 quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam vel quis dedit gallo intellegentiam
And who has given to women skill in weaving, or knowledge of embroidery?
37 quis enarravit caelorum rationem et concentum caeli quis dormire faciet
And who is he that numbers the clouds in wisdom, and has bowed the heaven [down] to the earth?
38 quando fundebatur pulvis in terram et glebae conpingebantur
For it is spread out as dusty earth, and I have cemented it as one hewn stone to another.
39 numquid capies leaenae praedam et animam catulorum eius implebis
And will you hunt a prey for the lions? and satisfy the desires of the serpents?
40 quando cubant in antris et in specubus insidiantur
For they fear in their lairs, and lying in wait couch in the woods.
41 quis praeparat corvo escam suam quando pulli eius ad Deum clamant vagantes eo quod non habeant cibos
And who has prepared food for the raven? for its young ones wander and cry to the Lord, in search of food.
