Job 38

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW JERUSALEM
1 But the Lord, responding to Job from a whirlwind, said:	1 Then from the heart of the tempest Yahweh gave Job his answer. He said:
2 Who is this that wraps sentences in unskilled words?	2 Who is this, obscuring my intentions with his ignorant words?
3 Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me.	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 set the foundations of 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 set its measurements, if you know, or who stretched a line over it?	5 Who decided its dimensions, do you know? Or who stretched the measuring line across it?
6 Upon what have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its cornerstone,	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 noise?	7 to the joyful concert of the morning stars and unanimous acclaim of the sons of God?
8 Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if issuing from the womb,	8 Who pent up the sea behind closed doors when it leapt tumultuous from the womb,
9 when I stationed a cloud as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an infant?	9 when I wrapped it in a robe of mist and made black clouds its swaddling bands;
10 I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned its 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: “This far you will approach, and you will proceeded no further, and here you will break your swelling waves.”	11 'Come so far,' I said, 'and no further; here your proud waves must break!'
12 Did you, after your birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its place?	12 Have you ever in your life given orders to the morning or sent the dawn to its post,
13 And did you hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and have you shaken the impious out of it?	13 to grasp the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The seal will be restored like clay, and it will remain in place like a garment.	14 She turns it as red as a clay seal, she tints it as though it were a dress,
15 From the impious, the light will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken.	15 stealing the light from evil-doers and breaking the arm raised to strike.
16 Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you taken a walk in the uttermost parts 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 opened to you, and have you seen the doors 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 considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things, reveal them to me.	18 Have you an inkling of the extent of the earth? Tell me al about it if you have!
19 Which is the way that holds the light, and which is the place of darkness?	19 Which is the way to the home of the Light, and where does darkness live? -
20 In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house.	20 You could then show them the way to their proper places, you could put them on the path homeagain!
21 So then, did you know when you were to be born? And did you know the number of your days?	21 If you do know, you must have been born when they were, you must be very old by now!
22 Have you been admitted into the storehouses of the snows, and have you gazed upon the stockpile of the brimstone,	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, for the day of the battle and the war?	23 which I keep for times of distress, for days of battle and war?
24 In what way is the light scattered, and the heat distributed, over 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 the rainstorms, and a path to the resounding thunder,	25 Who bores a channel for the downpour or clears the way for the rol ing thunder
26 so that it would rain on the earth far from man, in the wilderness where no mortal lingers,	26 so that rain may fal on lands where no one lives, and the deserts void of human dwel ing,
27 so that it would fill impassable and desolate places, and would bring forth green plants?	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 conceived the drops of dew?	28 Has the rain a father? Who begets the dewdrops?
29 From whose womb did the ice proceed, and who created the frost from the air?	29 What womb brings forth the ice, who gives birth to the frost of heaven,
30 The waters are hardened to become like stone, and the surface of the abyss freezes over.	30 when the waters grow hard as stone and the surface of the deep congeals?
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?	31 Can you fasten the harness of the Pleiades, or untie Orion's bands?
32 Can you bring forth the morning star, in its time, and make the evening star rise over the sons of the earth?	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 order of heaven, and can you explain its rules here on the earth?	33 Have you grasped the celestial laws? Could you make their writ run on the earth?
34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an onslaught of waters will cover you?	34 Can your voice carry as far as the clouds and make the pent-up waters do your bidding?
35 Can you send forth lightning bolts, and will they go, and on returning, say to you: “Here we are?”	35 Will lightning flashes come at your command and answer, 'Here we are'?
36 Who placed discernment in the guts of man, or who gave the rooster intelligence?	36 Who endowed the ibis with wisdom and gave the cock his intel igence?
37 Who can describe the rules of the heavens, or who can put to rest the harmony of heaven?	37 Whose skil details every cloud and tilts the water-skins of heaven
38 When was the dust cast to become the earth, and when were its clods fastened together?	38 until the dust solidifies and the cracks in the ground close up?
39 Will you seize prey for the lioness, and will you sustain the lives of her young,	39 Do you go hunting prey for the lioness; do you satisfy the hunger of young lions
40 as they rest in their dens or lie in wait in pits?	40 where they crouch in their den, waiting eagerly in the bushes?
41 Who provides the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as they wander around because they have no food?	41 Who makes provision for the raven when his little ones cry out to God craning their necks in search offood?