| 1 Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said : | 1 Then from the heart of the tempest Yahweh gave Job his answer. He said: |
| 2 Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskillful words? | 2 Who is this, obscuring my intentions with his ignorant words? |
| 3 Gird up thy loins like a man : I will ask thee, and answer thou me. | 3 Brace yourself like a fighter; I am going to ask the questions, and you are to inform me! |
| 4 Where wast thou when I laid up the foundations of the earth ? tell me if thou hast understanding. | 4 Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tel me, since you are so wel -informed! |
| 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? | 5 Who decided its dimensions, do you know? Or who stretched the measuring line across it? |
| 6 Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner stone thereof, | 6 What supports its pil ars at their bases? Who laid its cornerstone |
| 7 When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody? | 7 to the joyful concert of the morning stars and unanimous acclaim of the sons of God? |
| 8 Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing out of the womb : | 8 Who pent up the sea behind closed doors when it leapt tumultuous from the womb, |
| 9 when I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a mist as in swaddling bands? | 9 when I wrapped it in a robe of mist and made black clouds its swaddling bands; |
| 10 I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors : | 10 when I cut out the place I had decreed for it and imposed gates and a bolt? |
| 11 And I said : Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves. | 11 'Come so far,' I said, 'and no further; here your proud waves must break!' |
| 12 Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place? | 12 Have you ever in your life given orders to the morning or sent the dawn to its post, |
| 13 And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it? | 13 to grasp the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it? |
| 14 The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment : | 14 She turns it as red as a clay seal, she tints it as though it were a dress, |
| 15 From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high arm shall be broken. | 15 stealing the light from evil-doers and breaking the arm raised to strike. |
| 16 Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the lowest parts of the deep? | 16 Have you been right down to the sources of the sea and walked about at the bottom of the Abyss? |
| 17 Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors? | 17 Have you been shown the gates of Death, have you seen the janitors of the Shadow dark as death? |
| 18 Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things? | 18 Have you an inkling of the extent of the earth? Tell me al about it if you have! |
| 19 Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place of darkness : | 19 Which is the way to the home of the Light, and where does darkness live? - |
| 20 That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof. | 20 You could then show them the way to their proper places, you could put them on the path homeagain! |
| 21 Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born ? and didst thou know the number of thy days? | 21 If you do know, you must have been born when they were, you must be very old by now! |
| 22 Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or has thou beheld the treasures of the hail : | 22 Have you visited the place where the snow is stored? Have you seen the stores of hail, |
| 23 Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war? | 23 which I keep for times of distress, for days of battle and war? |
| 24 By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the earth? | 24 From which direction does the lightning fork, where in the world does the east wind blow itself out? |
| 25 Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy thunder : | 25 Who bores a channel for the downpour or clears the way for the rol ing thunder |
| 26 That it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth : | 26 so that rain may fal on lands where no one lives, and the deserts void of human dwel ing, |
| 27 That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and should bring forth green grass? | 27 to meet the needs of the lonely wastes and make grass sprout on the thirsty ground? |
| 28 Who is the father of rain ? or who begot the drops of dew? | 28 Has the rain a father? Who begets the dewdrops? |
| 29 Out of whose womb came the ice; and the frost from heaven who hath gendered it? | 29 What womb brings forth the ice, who gives birth to the frost of heaven, |
| 30 The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed. | 30 when the waters grow hard as stone and the surface of the deep congeals? |
| 31 Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus? | 31 Can you fasten the harness of the Pleiades, or untie Orion's bands? |
| 32 Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make the evening star to rise upon the children of the earth? | 32 Can you guide the Crown season by season and show the Bear and its cubs which way to go? |
| 33 Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth? | 33 Have you grasped the celestial laws? Could you make their writ run on the earth? |
| 34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance of waters may cover thee? | 34 Can your voice carry as far as the clouds and make the pent-up waters do your bidding? |
| 35 Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return and say to thee : Here we are? | 35 Will lightning flashes come at your command and answer, 'Here we are'? |
| 36 Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock understanding? | 36 Who endowed the ibis with wisdom and gave the cock his intel igence? |
| 37 Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep? | 37 Whose skil details every cloud and tilts the water-skins of heaven |
| 38 When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods fastened together? | 38 until the dust solidifies and the cracks in the ground close up? |
| 39 Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of her whelps, | 39 Do you go hunting prey for the lioness; do you satisfy the hunger of young lions |
| 40 When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes? | 40 where they crouch in their den, waiting eagerly in the bushes? |
| 41 Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry to God, wandering about, because they have no meat? | 41 Who makes provision for the raven when his little ones cry out to God craning their necks in search offood? |