Yobo 38
1 Yawe ayanolaki Yobo kati na mopepe makasi:
Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
2 « Nani azali kobebisa mabongisi na ngai na maloba ezanga tina?
“(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!
3 Lata mokaba na yo lokola elombe mobali; nakotuna yo mituna mpe okoyanola ngai.
I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
4 Ozalaki wapi tango ngai nasalaki mabele? Yebisa ngai soki ozali mayele.
(“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].
5 Nani akataki mondelo na yango, oyebi ye? Nani amekaki molayi na yango na singa?
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!
6 Makolo ya makonzi na yango evandi likolo ya nini? Nani atiaki libanga na yango ya songe,
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?]
7 tango minzoto ya tongo ezalaki koyemba elongo mpe tango bana na Nzambe bazalaki koganga na esengo?
8 Nani akangaki ebale monene na bikuke ya makasi tango yango ebimaki wuta na mabele,
“When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
9 tango nakomisaki mapata elamba na yango, mpe molili, singa ya kokangela yango,
It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
10 tango natielaki yango bandelo, tango natielaki yango bikuke ya makasi,
I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
11 tango nalobaki: ‹ Okosuka kino awa, kasi mosika te; awa nde ekosukela mbonge ya lolendo na yo? ›
[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!’
12 Boni, osili kopesa tongo mitindo to osili kolakisa tongo-tongo esika na yango,
“Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
13 mpo ete esimba bandelo ya mokili mpe ebimisa bato mabe?
Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?
14 Mabele ebongwani lokola potopoto oyo batia kashe, mpe nyonso emonani lokola elatisami elamba.
When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
15 Bazangisi bato mabe pole mpe babuki loboko oyo etombwami mpo na kosala mabe.
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.
16 Osila kokoma kino na etima ya ebale monene? Osila kotambola na se ya libulu ya molili?
“[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?
17 Boni, basila kolakisa yo bikuke ya kufa? Osila komona bikuke ya elilingi ya kufa?
Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
18 Miso na yo esila komona kino na bitando monene ya mokili? Loba yango soki oyebi makambo oyo nyonso.
Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
19 Wapi nzela oyo ememaka na pole? Bongo molili ezalaka wapi
“Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
20 mpo ete omema yango na bisika na yango mpe oyeba banzela oyo ememaka na esika oyo evandaka?
Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
21 Solo, oyebi yango malamu, pamba te osilaki kobotama mpe motuya ya mikolo na yo ezali ebele.
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!
22 Boni, osila kokoma na esika oyo babombaka mvula ya pembe mpe na esika oyo babombaka mvula ya mabanga?
“Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
23 Nabombaki yango mpo na tango ya pasi mpe mpo na mikolo ya bitumba.
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].
24 Na nzela nini pole ebimaka mpe mopepe ya ngambo ya este epanzanaka?
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?
25 Nani atimola nzela mpo na mvula makasi, nani apasola nzela mpo na mokalikali ya bakake
Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
26 mpo na konokisa mvula na esika oyo ezanga bato, na esika ya esobe oyo bato bavandaka te,
Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
27 mpo na kosopa mayi na bisika oyo ezanga bato mpe ekawuka, mpe mpo na kobotisa matiti ya mobesu?
Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
28 Boni, mvula ezali nde na tata? Nani abotaki matanga ya mamwe?
Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
29 Libumu ya nani ebotaki mayi ya libanga? Nani abotaki londende oyo ewutaka na likolo?
And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?
30 Tango nini mayi ekomaka libanga mpe likolo ya mayi ya mozindo ekomaka libanga?
[In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
31 Okoki kokanga na singa Minzoto sambo esika moko to kofungola basinga ya Minzoto minei?
“[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
32 Okoki kobimisa bilembo ya Zodiake na tango na yango mpe kokamba Ngombolo elongo na bana na yango?
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?
33 Oyebi mibeko ya likolo? Okolonga kokokisa bokonzi na yango na mokili?
Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
34 Okoki kotombola mongongo na yo na mapata mpo ete mayi ebele ezipa yo?
“Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
35 Okoki kotinda bakake ete ebima na banzela na yango mpe eloba na yo: ‹ Tala biso oyo? ›
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?’
36 Nani atia bwanya na motema ya moto to nani apesa soso mayele?
Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
37 Nani azali na bwanya mpo na kotanga mapata mpe kosopa mayi ya nzungu ya likolo
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],
38 mpo ete putulu etiola elongo lokola ebende oyo enyangolami na moto mpe mpo ete maboke ya mabele ekangama esika moko?
with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
39 Boni, yo nde okokoka koboma nyama mpo na nkosi ya mwasi mpe kosilisa nzala ya bana na yango
“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?
40 tango elalaka kati na mabulu na yango mpe emilengelaka na se ya banzete ya makasa ebele?
41 Nani abongiselaka yanganga bilei tango bana na yango egangaka epai ya Nzambe mpe tango eyengaka-yengaka mpo na kozanga bilei?
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]?”
