Job 38

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