Job 38

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Then from the heart of the tempest Yahweh gave Job his answer. He said:	1 But the Lord, responding to Job from a whirlwind, said:
2 Who is this, obscuring my intentions with his ignorant words?	2 Who is this that wraps sentences in unskilled words?
3 Brace yourself like a fighter; I am going to ask the questions, and you are to inform me!	3 Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me.
4 Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tel me, since you are so wel -informed!	4 Where were you, when I set the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who decided its dimensions, do you know? Or who stretched the measuring line across it?	5 Who set its measurements, if you know, or who stretched a line over it?
6 What supports its pil ars at their bases? Who laid its cornerstone	6 Upon what have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its cornerstone,
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 noise?
8 Who pent up the sea behind closed doors when it leapt tumultuous from the womb,	8 Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if issuing from the womb,
9 when I wrapped it in a robe of mist and made black clouds its swaddling bands;	9 when I stationed a cloud as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an infant?
10 when I cut out the place I had decreed for it and imposed gates and a bolt?	10 I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned its bars and doors.
11 'Come so far,' I said, 'and no further; here your proud waves must break!'	11 And I said: “This far you will approach, and you will proceeded no further, and here you will break your swelling waves.”
12 Have you ever in your life given orders to the morning or sent the dawn to its post,	12 Did you, after your birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its place?
13 to grasp the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it?	13 And did you hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and have you shaken the impious 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 will be restored like clay, and it will remain in place like a garment.
15 stealing the light from evil-doers and breaking the arm raised to strike.	15 From the impious, the light will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken.
16 Have you been right down to the sources of the sea and walked about at the bottom of the Abyss?	16 Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you taken a walk in the uttermost parts of the abyss?
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 you, and have you seen the doors of darkness?
18 Have you an inkling of the extent of the earth? Tell me al about it if you have!	18 Have you considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things, reveal them to me.
19 Which is the way to the home of the Light, and where does darkness live? -	19 Which is the way that holds the light, and which 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 In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house.
21 If you do know, you must have been born when they were, you must be very old by now!	21 So then, did you know when you were to be born? And did you know the number of your days?
22 Have you visited the place where the snow is stored? Have you seen the stores of hail,	22 Have you been admitted into the storehouses of the snows, and have you gazed upon the stockpile of the brimstone,
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, for the day of the battle and the war?
24 From which direction does the lightning fork, where in the world does the east wind blow itself out?	24 In what way is the light scattered, and the heat distributed, over 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 the rainstorms, and a path to the resounding thunder,
26 so that rain may fal on lands where no one lives, and the deserts void of human dwel ing,	26 so that it would rain on the earth far from man, in the wilderness where no mortal lingers,
27 to meet the needs of the lonely wastes and make grass sprout on the thirsty ground?	27 so that it would fill impassable and desolate places, and would bring forth green plants?
28 Has the rain a father? Who begets the dewdrops?	28 Who is the father of rain, or who conceived the drops of dew?
29 What womb brings forth the ice, who gives birth to the frost of heaven,	29 From whose womb did the ice proceed, and who created the frost from the air?
30 when the waters grow hard as stone and the surface of the deep congeals?	30 The waters are hardened to become like stone, and the surface of the abyss freezes over.
31 Can you fasten the harness of the Pleiades, or untie Orion's bands?	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?
32 Can you guide the Crown season by season and show the Bear and its cubs which way to go?	32 Can you bring forth the morning star, in its time, and make the evening star rise over the sons of the earth?
33 Have you grasped the celestial laws? Could you make their writ run on the earth?	33 Do you know the order of heaven, and can you explain its rules here on the earth?
34 Can your voice carry as far as the clouds and make the pent-up waters do your bidding?	34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an onslaught of waters will cover you?
35 Will lightning flashes come at your command and answer, 'Here we are'?	35 Can you send forth lightning bolts, and will they go, and on returning, say to you: “Here we are?”
36 Who endowed the ibis with wisdom and gave the cock his intel igence?	36 Who placed discernment in the guts of man, or who gave the rooster intelligence?
37 Whose skil details every cloud and tilts the water-skins of heaven	37 Who can describe the rules of the heavens, or who can put to rest the harmony of heaven?
38 until the dust solidifies and the cracks in the ground close up?	38 When was the dust cast to become the earth, and when were its clods fastened together?
39 Do you go hunting prey for the lioness; do you satisfy the hunger of young lions	39 Will you seize prey for the lioness, and will you sustain the lives of her young,
40 where they crouch in their den, waiting eagerly in the bushes?	40 as they rest in their dens or lie in wait in pits?
41 Who makes provision for the raven when his little ones cry out to God craning their necks in search offood?	41 Who provides the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as they wander around because they have no food?