Job 38

Job 38, Catholic Public Domain Version

1. But the Lord, responding to Job from a whirlwind, said:†

   Respondens autem Dominus Job de turbine, dixit:

2. 2

   Who is this that wraps sentences in unskilled words?

   Quis est iste involvens sententias sermonibus imperitis?

3. 3

   Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me.

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

4. 4

   Where were you, when I set the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

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

5. 5

   Who set its measurements, if you know, or who stretched a line over it?

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

6. 6

   Upon what have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its cornerstone,

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

7. 7

   when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful noise?

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

8. 8

   Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if issuing from the womb,

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

9. 9

   when I stationed a cloud as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an infant?

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

10. 10

    I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned its bars and doors.

    Circumdedi illud terminis meis, et posui vectem et ostia,

11. 11

    And I said: “This far you will approach, and you will proceed no further, and here you will break your swelling waves.”

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

12. 12

    Did you, after your birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its place?

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

13. 13

    And did you hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and have you shaken the impious out of it?

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

14. 14

    The seal will be restored like clay, and it will remain in place like a garment.

    Restituetur ut lutum signaculum, et stabit sicut vestimentum:

15. 15

    From the impious, the light will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken.

    auferetur ab impiis lux sua, et brachium excelsum confringetur.

16. 16

    Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you taken a walk in the uttermost parts of the abyss?

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

17. 17

    Have the gates of death been opened to you, and have you seen the doors of darkness?

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

18. 18

    Have you considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things, reveal them to me.

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

19. 19

    Which is the way that holds the light, and which is the place of darkness?

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

20. 20

    In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house.

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

21. 21

    So then, did you know when you were to be born? And did you know the number of your days?

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

22. 22

    Have you been admitted into the storehouses of the snows, and have you gazed upon the stockpile of the brimstone,

    Numquid ingressus es thesauros nivis, aut thesauros grandinis aspexisti,

23. 23

    which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, for the day of the battle and the war?

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

24. 24

    In what way is the light scattered, and the heat distributed, over the earth?

    Per quam viam spargitur lux, dividitur æstus super terram?

25. 25

    Who gave a course to the rainstorms, and a path to the resounding thunder,

    Quis dedit vehementissimo imbri cursum, et viam sonantis tonitrui,

26. 26

    so that it would rain on the earth far from man, in the wilderness where no mortal lingers,

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

27. 27

    so that it would fill impassable and desolate places, and would bring forth green plants?

    ut impleret inviam et desolatam, et produceret herbas virentes?

28. 28

    Who is the father of rain, or who conceived the drops of dew?

    Quis est pluviæ pater? vel quis genuit stillas roris?

29. 29

    From whose womb did the ice proceed, and who created the frost from the air?

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

30. 30

    The waters are hardened to become like stone, and the surface of the abyss freezes over.

    In similitudinem lapidis aquæ durantur, et superficies abyssi constringitur.

31. 31

    Will you have the strength to join together the sparkling stars of the Pleiades, or are you able to disperse the circling of Arcturus?†

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

32. 32

    Can you bring forth the morning star, in its time, and make the evening star rise over the sons of the earth?

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

33. 33

    Do you know the order of heaven, and can you explain its rules here on the earth?

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

34. 34

    Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an onslaught of waters will cover you?

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

35. 35

    Can you send forth lightning bolts, and will they go, and on returning, say to you: “Here we are?”

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

36. 36

    Who placed discernment in the guts of man, or who gave the rooster intelligence?†

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

37. 37

    Who can describe the rules of the heavens, or who can put to rest the harmony of heaven?

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

38. 38

    When was the dust cast to become the earth, and when were its clods fastened together?

    Quando fundebatur pulvis in terra, et glebæ compingebantur?

39. 39

    Will you seize prey for the lioness, and will you sustain the lives of her young,

    Numquid capies leænæ prædam, et animam catulorum ejus implebis,

40. 40

    as they rest in their dens or lie in wait in pits?

    quando cubant in antris, et in specubus insidiantur?

41. 41

    Who provides the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as they wander around because they have no food?

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

Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain · Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592)