約伯記 38
1
那時耶和華從旋風中回答約伯說、

Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:

2
誰用無知的言語、使我的旨意暗昧不明、

"Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?

3
你要如勇士束腰.我問你、你可以指示我。

Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.

4
我立大地根基的時候、你在那裡呢.你若有聰明只管說罷。

"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

5
你若曉得就說、是誰定地的尺度.是誰把準繩拉在其上。

Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6
地的根基安置在何處.地的角石是誰安放的。

On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone--

7
那時晨星一同歌唱、 神的眾子也都歡呼。

while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

8
海水衝出、如出胎胞.那時誰將他關閉呢.

"Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,

9
是我用雲彩當海的衣服、用幽暗當包裹他的布、

when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,

10
為他定界限、又安門和閂、

when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,

11
說、你只可到這裡、不可越過、你狂傲的浪要到此止住。

when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?

12
你自生以來、曾命定晨光、使清晨的日光知道本位.

"Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,

13
叫這光普照地的四極、將惡人從其中驅逐出來麼。

that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?

14
因這光地面改變如泥上印印.萬物出現如衣服一樣。

The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.

15
亮光不照惡人、強橫的膀臂也必折斷。

The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.

16
你曾進到海源、或在深淵的隱密處行走麼。

"Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17
死亡的門、曾向你顯露麼.死蔭的門、你曾見過麼。

Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

18
地的廣大、你能明透麼.你若全知道、只管說罷。

Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.

19
光明的居所從何而至、黑暗的本位在於何處。

"What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?

20
你能帶到本境、能看明其室之路麼。

Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

21
你總知道、因為你早已生在世上、你日子的數目也多。

Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!

22
你曾進入雪庫、或見過雹倉麼。

"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,

23
這雪雹乃是我為降災、並打仗和爭戰的日子所豫備的。

which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?

24
光亮從何路分開、東風從何路分散遍地。

What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

25
誰為雨水分道、誰為雷電開路.

Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,

26
使雨降在無人之地、無人居住的曠野.

to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it,

27
使荒廢淒涼之地得以豐足、青草得以發生。

to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?

28
雨有父麼、露水珠、是誰生的呢。

Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?

29
冰出於誰的胎、天上的霜、是誰生的呢。

From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

30
諸水堅硬〔或作隱藏〕如石頭、深淵之面凝結成冰。

when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?

31
你能繫住昴星的結麼、能解開參星的帶麼。

"Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?

32
你能按時領出十二宮麼、能引導北斗和隨他的眾星麼.〔星原文作子〕

Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?

33
你知道天的定例麼、能使地歸在天的權下麼。

Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God'sdominion over the earth?

34
你能向雲彩揚起聲來、使傾盆的雨遮蓋你麼。

"Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?

35
你能發出閃電、叫他行去、使他對你說、我們在這裡。

Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?

36
誰將智慧放在懷中、誰將聰明賜於心內。

Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind?

37
誰能用智慧數算雲彩呢、塵土聚集成團、土塊緊緊結連.那時、誰能傾倒天上的瓶呢。

Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

38
見上節

when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?

39
母獅子在洞中蹲伏、少壯獅子在隱密處埋伏、你能為他們抓取食物、使他們飽足麼。

"Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions

40
見上節

when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?

41
烏鴉之雛、因無食物飛來飛去、哀告 神.那時、誰為他豫備食物呢。

Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?