Job 38
1 respondens autem Dominus Iob de turbine dixit
Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said:
2 quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus inperitis
Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskillful words?
3 accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos interrogabo te et responde mihi
Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer thou me.
4 ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terrae indica mihi si habes intellegentiam
Where wast thou when I laid up the foundations of the earth? tell me if thou hast understanding.
5 quis posuit mensuras eius si nosti vel quis tetendit super eam lineam
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 super quo bases illius solidatae sunt aut quis dimisit lapidem angularem eius
Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner stone thereof,
7 cum me laudarent simul astra matutina et iubilarent omnes filii Dei
When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?
8 quis conclusit ostiis mare quando erumpebat quasi de vulva procedens
Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing out of the womb:
9 cum ponerem nubem vestimentum eius et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiae obvolverem
When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a mist as in swaddling bands?
10 circumdedi illud terminis meis et posui vectem et ostia
I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors:
11 et dixi usque huc venies et non procedes amplius et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos
And I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves.
12 numquid post ortum tuum praecepisti diluculo et ostendisti aurorae locum suum
Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place?
13 et tenuisti concutiens extrema terrae et excussisti impios ex ea
And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it?
14 restituetur ut lutum signaculum et stabit sicut vestimentum
The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment:
15 auferetur ab impiis lux sua et brachium excelsum confringetur
From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high arm shall be broken.
16 numquid ingressus es profunda maris et in novissimis abyssis deambulasti
Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the lowest parts of the deep?
17 numquid apertae tibi sunt portae mortis et ostia tenebrosa vidisti
Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors?
18 numquid considerasti latitudines terrae indica mihi si nosti omnia
Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things?
19 in qua via habitet lux et tenebrarum quis locus sit
Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place of darkness:
20 ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos et intellegas semitas domus eius
That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof.
21 sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses et numerum dierum tuorum noveras
Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born? and didst thou know the number of thy days?
22 numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti
Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or has thou beheld the treasures of the hail:
23 quae praeparavi in tempus hostis in diem pugnae et belli
Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war?
24 per quam viam spargitur lux dividitur aestus super terram
By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the earth?
25 quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum et viam sonantis tonitrui
Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy thunder:
26 ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto ubi nullus mortalium commoratur
That it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth:
27 ut impleret inviam et desolatam et produceret herbas virentes
That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and should bring forth green grass?
28 quis est pluviae pater vel quis genuit stillas roris
Who is the father of rain? or who begot the drops of dew?
29 de cuius utero egressa est glacies et gelu de caelo quis genuit
Out of whose womb came the ice; and the frost from heaven who hath gendered it?
30 in similitudinem lapidis aquae durantur et superficies abyssi constringitur
The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed.
31 numquid coniungere valebis micantes stellas Pliadis aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare
Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus?
32 numquid producis luciferum in tempore suo et vesperum super filios terrae consurgere facis
Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make the evening star to rise upon the children of the earth?
33 numquid nosti ordinem caeli et pones rationem eius in terra
Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth?
34 numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam et impetus aquarum operiet te
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 numquid mittes fulgura et ibunt et revertentia dicent tibi adsumus
Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return and say to thee: Here we are?
36 quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam vel quis dedit gallo intellegentiam
Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock understanding?
37 quis enarravit caelorum rationem et concentum caeli quis dormire faciet
Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep?
38 quando fundebatur pulvis in terram et glebae conpingebantur
When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods fastened together?
39 numquid capies leaenae praedam et animam catulorum eius implebis
Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of her whelps,
40 quando cubant in antris et in specubus insidiantur
When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes?
41 quis praeparat corvo escam suam quando pulli eius ad Deum clamant vagantes eo quod non habeant cibos
Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry to God, wandering about, because they have no meat?
