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 imperitis?

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 terræ? indica mihi si habes intelligentiam.

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 solidatæ sunt? aut quis demisit 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 infantiæ 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 præcepisti diluculo, et ostendisti auroræ 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 terræ, 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 abyssi deambulasti?

Or have you gone to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the deep?

17 Numquid apertæ sunt tibi portæ 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 latitudinem terræ? 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 lux habitet, 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 intelligas 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 Quæ præparavi in tempus hostis, in diem pugnæ 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 æstus 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 pluviæ 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 cælo quis genuit?

And out of whose womb comes the ice? and who has produced the frost in the sky,

30 In similitudinem lapidis aquæ durantur, et superficies abyssi constringitur.

which descends like flowing water? who has terrified the face of the ungodly?

31 Numquid coniungere valebis micantes stellas Pleiadas, 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 terræ 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 cæli, 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 intelligentiam?

And who has given to women skill in weaving, or knowledge of embroidery?

37 Quis enarrabit cælorum rationem, et concentum cæli 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 terra, et glebæ compingebantur?

For it is spread out as dusty earth, and I have cemented it as one hewn stone to another.

39 Numquid capies leænæ prædam, 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 præparat corvo escam suam, quando pulli eius clamant ad Deum, 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.