Job 38

1Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said:

Respondens autem Dominus Job de turbine, dixit:

2Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskilful words?

Quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus imperitis?

3Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer thou me.

Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos: interrogabo te, et responde mihi.

4Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? tell me if thou hast understanding.

Ubi eras quando ponebam fundamenta terræ? indica mihi, si habes intelligentiam.

5Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest or who hath stretched the line upon it?

Quis posuit mensuras ejus, si nosti? vel quis tetendit super eam lineam?

6Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner stone thereof,

Super quo bases illius solidatæ sunt? aut quis demisit lapidem angularem ejus,

7When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?

cum me laudarent simul astra matutina, et jubilarent omnes filii Dei?

8Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing out of the womb:

Quis conclusit ostiis mare, quando erumpebat quasi de vulva procedens;

9When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a mist as in swaddling bands?

cum ponerem nubem vestimentum ejus, et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiæ obvolverem?

10I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors:

Circumdedi illud terminis meis, et posui vectem et ostia,

11And I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves.

et dixi: Usque huc venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos.

12Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place?

Numquid post ortum tuum præcepisti diluculo, et ostendisti auroræ locum suum?

13And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it?

Et tenuisti concutiens extrema terræ, et excussisti impios ex ea?

14The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment.

Restituetur ut lutum signaculum, et stabit sicut vestimentum:

15From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high arm shall be broken.

auferetur ab impiis lux sua, et brachium excelsum confringetur.

16Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the lowest parts of the deep?

Numquid ingressus es profunda maris, et in novissimis abyssi deambulasti?

17Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors?

Numquid apertæ sunt tibi portæ mortis, et ostia tenebrosa vidisti?

18Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things?

Numquid considerasti latitudinem terræ? indica mihi, si nosti, omnia:

19Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place of darkness?

in qua via lux habitet, et tenebrarum quis locus sit:

20That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof.

ut ducas unumquodque ad terminos suos, et intelligas semitas domus ejus.

21Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born? and didst thou know the number of thy days?

Sciebas tunc quod nasciturus esses, et numerum dierum tuorum noveras?

22Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or hast thou beheld the treasures of the hail:

Numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis, aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti,

23Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war?

quæ præparavi in tempus hostis, in diem pugnæ et belli?

24By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the earth?

Per quam viam spargitur lux, dividitur æstus super terram?

25Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy thunder:

Quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum, et viam sonantis tonitrui,

26That it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth:

ut plueret super terram absque homine in deserto, ubi nullus mortalium commoratur;

27That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and should bring forth green grass?

ut impleret inviam et desolatam, et produceret herbas virentes?

28Who is the father of rain? or who begot the drops of dew?

Quis est pluviæ pater? vel quis genuit stillas roris?

29Out of whose womb came the ice? and the frost from heaven who hath gendered it?

De cujus utero egressa est glacies? et gelu de cælo quis genuit?

30The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed.

In similitudinem lapidis aquæ durantur, et superficies abyssi constringitur.

31Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus?

Numquid conjungere valebis micantes stellas Pleiadas, aut gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare?

32Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make the evening star to rise upon the children of the earth?

Numquid producis luciferum in tempore suo, et vesperum super filios terræ consurgere facis?

33Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth?

Numquid nosti ordinem cæli, et pones rationem ejus in terra?

34Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance of waters may cover thee?

Numquid elevabis in nebula vocem tuam, et impetus aquarum operiet te?

35Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return and say to thee: Here we are?

Numquid mittes fulgura, et ibunt, et revertentia dicent tibi: Adsumus?

36Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock understanding?

Quis posuit in visceribus hominis sapientiam? vel quis dedit gallo intelligentiam?

37Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep?

Quis enarrabit cælorum rationem? et concentum cæli quis dormire faciet?

38When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods fastened together?

Quando fundebatur pulvis in terra, et glebæ compingebantur?

39Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of her whelps,

Numquid capies leænæ prædam, et animam catulorum ejus implebis,

40When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes?

quando cubant in antris, et in specubus insidiantur?

41Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry to God, wandering about, because they have no meat?

Quis præparat corvo escam suam, quando pulli ejus clamant ad Deum, vagantes, eo quod non habeant cibos?