Job 38

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Then the LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said:	1 Then from the heart of the tempest Yahweh gave Job his answer. He said:
2 Who is this that obscures divine plans with words of ignorance?	2 Who is this, obscuring my intentions with his ignorant words?
3 Gird up your loins now, like a man; I will question you, and you tell me the answers!	3 Brace yourself like a fighter; I am going to ask the questions, and you are to inform me!
4 Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.	4 Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tel me, since you are so wel -informed!
5 Who determined its size; do you know? Who stretched out the measuring line for it?	5 Who decided its dimensions, do you know? Or who stretched the measuring line across it?
6 Into what were its pedestals sunk, and who laid the cornerstone,	6 What supports its pil ars at their bases? Who laid its cornerstone
7 While the morning stars sang in chorus and all the sons of God shouted for joy?	7 to the joyful concert of the morning stars and unanimous acclaim of the sons of God?
8 And who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb;	8 Who pent up the sea behind closed doors when it leapt tumultuous from the womb,
9 When I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands?	9 when I wrapped it in a robe of mist and made black clouds its swaddling bands;
10 When I set limits for it and fastened the bar of its door,	10 when I cut out the place I had decreed for it and imposed gates and a bolt?
11 And said: Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!	11 'Come so far,' I said, 'and no further; here your proud waves must break!'
12 Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place	12 Have you ever in your life given orders to the morning or sent the dawn to its post,
13 For taking hold of the ends of the earth, till the wicked are shaken from its surface?	13 to grasp the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth is changed as is clay by the seal, and dyed as though it were a garment;	14 She turns it as red as a clay seal, she tints it as though it were a dress,
15 But from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm of pride is shattered.	15 stealing the light from evil-doers and breaking the arm raised to strike.
16 Have you entered into the sources of the sea, or walked about in the depths of the abyss?	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 shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness?	17 Have you been shown the gates of Death, have you seen the janitors of the Shadow dark as death?
18 Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me, if you know all:	18 Have you an inkling of the extent of the earth? Tell me al about it if you have!
19 Which is the way to the dwelling place of light, and where is the abode of darkness,	19 Which is the way to the home of the Light, and where does darkness live? -
20 That you may take them to their boundaries and set them on their homeward paths?	20 You could then show them the way to their proper places, you could put them on the path homeagain!
21 You know, because you were born before them, and the number of your years is great!	21 If you do know, you must have been born when they were, you must be very old by now!
22 Have you entered the storehouse of the snow, and seen the treasury 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 reserved for times of stress, for the days of war and of battle?	23 which I keep for times of distress, for days of battle and war?
24 Which way to the parting of the winds, whence the east wind spreads over the earth?	24 From which direction does the lightning fork, where in the world does the east wind blow itself out?
25 Who has laid out a channel for the downpour and for the thunderstorm a path	25 Who bores a channel for the downpour or clears the way for the rol ing thunder
26 To bring rain to no man's land, the unpeopled wilderness;	26 so that rain may fal on lands where no one lives, and the deserts void of human dwel ing,
27 To enrich the waste and desolate ground till the desert blooms with verdure?	27 to meet the needs of the lonely wastes and make grass sprout on the thirsty ground?
28 Has the rain a father; or who has begotten the drops of dew?	28 Has the rain a father? Who begets the dewdrops?
29 Out of whose womb comes the ice, and who gives the hoarfrost its birth in the skies,	29 What womb brings forth the ice, who gives birth to the frost of heaven,
30 When the waters lie covered as though with stone that holds captive the surface of the deep?	30 when the waters grow hard as stone and the surface of the deep congeals?
31 Have you fitted a curb to the Pleiades, or loosened the bonds of Orion?	31 Can you fasten the harness of the Pleiades, or untie Orion's bands?
32 Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or guide the Bear with its train?	32 Can you guide the Crown season by season and show the Bear and its cubs which way to go?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens; can you put into effect their plan on the earth?	33 Have you grasped the celestial laws? Could you make their writ run on the earth?
34 Can you raise your voice among the clouds, or veil yourself in the waters of the storm?	34 Can your voice carry as far as the clouds and make the pent-up waters do your bidding?
35 Can you send forth the lightnings on their way, or will they say to you, "Here we are"?	35 Will lightning flashes come at your command and answer, 'Here we are'?
36 Who puts wisdom in the heart, and gives the cock its understanding?	36 Who endowed the ibis with wisdom and gave the cock his intel igence?
37 Who counts the clouds in his wisdom? Or who tilts the water jars of heaven	37 Whose skil details every cloud and tilts the water-skins of heaven
38 So that the dust of earth is fused into a mass and its clods made solid?	38 until the dust solidifies and the cracks in the ground close up?
39 Do you hunt the prey for the lioness or appease the hunger of her cubs,	39 Do you go hunting prey for the lioness; do you satisfy the hunger of young lions
40 While they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in the thicket?	40 where they crouch in their den, waiting eagerly in the bushes?
41 Who provides nourishment for the ravens when their young ones cry out to God, and they rove abroad without food?	41 Who makes provision for the raven when his little ones cry out to God craning their necks in search offood?