耶和华回答约伯

38 那时,耶和华从旋风中回答约伯说:
“是谁用无知的话蒙蔽我的旨意?
你要像勇士一样束腰备战,
我来提问,你来回答。

“我立大地根基的时候,你在哪里?
你若那么聪明,请告诉我。
你可知道谁为大地定的尺寸?
谁用准绳把它丈量?
是什么支撑大地的根基?
谁为它安放的基石?
当时晨星齐声歌唱,
众天使都发出欢呼。

“大海从母胎奔腾而出时,
谁为它划定界限?
是我为大海披上云彩,
为它裹上厚厚的幽暗。
10 是我为它划定界限,
并安上门和闩,
11 说,‘你到此为止,不可越界;
你狂傲的波涛要停在这里。’

12 “你生平可曾向晨曦发号施令,
为黎明的曙光指定岗位,
13 使阳光普照大地,
抖出藏匿的恶人?
14 日光使大地改观,如泥上盖印,
万物如衣服般显出颜色。
15 恶人得不到光明,
强横的臂膀必折断。
16 你可曾到过大海的源头,
走过深渊的底部?
17 死亡之门可曾向你显露?
你可曾见过幽冥之门?
18 你知道大地有多广阔吗?
你若知道,就告诉我吧。

19 “哪条路通往光明的居所?
哪里是黑暗的住处?
20 你能把它们带回原处吗?
你认识通往其居所的路吗?
21 你肯定知道,
因为那时你已出生,
你的寿数又很长久!

22 “你曾到过雪库,
或见过雹仓吗?
23 那是我为降灾之时,
为争战之日而预备的。
24 光从哪条路散开?
东风从哪条路吹向大地?
25 谁为豪雨开水道,
为雷电辟路径,
26 使雨水降在杳无人烟之地,
降在无人居住的旷野,
27 以滋润荒凉不毛之地,
使土地长出青草?
28 雨水有父亲吗?
谁生的露珠?
29 冰出自谁的胎?
谁生的天上的霜?
30 水变得坚硬如石,
深渊表面凝结成冰。

31 “你能系住昴星的结,
解开参星的带吗?
32 你能按季节领出星座,
引导北斗及其众星吗?
33 你知道天的定律吗?
你能使地服从天律吗?
34 你能号令云彩,
使倾盆大雨覆盖你吗?
35 你能命闪电发出,
让它听候调遣吗?
36 谁将智慧放在人胸中?
谁使人内心有聪明?
37-38 尘土结成硬团,
土块黏在一起时,
谁能凭智慧数算云彩?
谁能倾倒天上的水囊?

39-40 “狮子卧在洞中,
壮狮埋伏在隐秘处,
你能为它们猎取食物,
使它们饱餐吗?
41 乌鸦的幼雏饿得飞来飞去,
向上帝哀鸣时,
谁供应乌鸦食物?

The Lord Speaks to Job

38 The Lord responded to Job from the whirlwind and said:

“Who is this who keeps darkening my counsel
    without knowing what he’s talking about?
Stand up[a] like a man!
    I’ll ask you some questions,
        and you give me some answers!”

On the Natural World

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of my earth?
    Tell me,[b] since you’re so informed!
Who set its measurement? Am I to assume you know?
    Who stretched a boundary line over it?
On what were its bases set?
    Who laid its corner stone
while the morning stars sang together
    and all the divine beings[c] shouted joyfully?

“Who[d] enclosed the sea with limits[e]
    when it gushed out of the womb,
when I made clouds to be its clothes
    and thick darkness its swaddling blanket,
10 when I proscribed a boundary for it,
    set in place bars and doors for it;
11 and said, ‘You may come only this far and no more.
    Your majestic waves will stop here.’?

12 “Have you ever commanded the morning at any time during your life?[f]
    Do you know where the dawn lives,
13 where it seizes the edge of the earth
    and shakes the wicked out of it?
14 Like clay is molded by a signet ring,
    the earth’s hills and valleys[g] then stand out
        like the colors of a garment.
15 Then from the wicked their light is withheld
    and their upraised arm is broken.

16 “Have you been to the source of the sea
    and walked about in the recesses of the deepest ocean?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
    Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Do you understand the breadth of the earth?
    Tell me, since you know it all!

19 “Where is the road to where the light lives?
    Or where does the darkness live?
20 Can you take it to its homeland,
    since you know the path to his house?
21 You should know! After all, you had been born back then,
    so the number of your days is great!

22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
    or seen where the hail is stored,
23 which I’ve reserved for the tribulation to come,
    for the day of battle and war?
24 Where is the lightning diffused
    or the east wind scattered around the earth?

25 “Who cuts canals for storm floods,
    and paths for the lightning and thunder,
26 to bring rain upon a land without inhabitants,
    a desert in which no human beings live,
27 to satisfy a desolate and devastated desert,
    causing it to sprout vegetation?

28 “Does the rain have a father?
    Who fathered the dew?
29 Whose womb brings forth the ice?
    Who gives birth to frost out of an empty[h] sky,
30 when water solidifies[i] like stone
    and the surface of the deepest sea freezes?

On the Heavens

31 “Can you bind the chains of Pleiades
    or loosen the cords of Orion?
32 Can you bring out constellations in their season?
    Can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
    Can you regulate their authority over the earth?

34 “Can you call out to the clouds,
    so that abundant water drenches you?
35 Can you command the lightning,
    so that it goes forth and calls to you, ‘Look at us!’[j]

36 “Who sets wisdom within you,
    or imbues your mind with understanding?
37 Who has the wisdom to be able to count the clouds,
    or to empty[k] the water jars of heaven,
38 when dust dries into a mass
    and then breaks apart into clods?

On the Animal World

39 “Can you hunt prey for the lioness
    to satisfy young lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
    and lie in ambush in their lairs?
41 Who prepares food for the raven,
    when its offspring cry out to God
        as they wander for lack of food?”

Footnotes

  1. Job 38:3 Lit. Gird up your loins
  2. Job 38:4 Or declare
  3. Job 38:7 Lit. sons of God
  4. Job 38:8 Lit. and he
  5. Job 38:8 Lit. doors
  6. Job 38:12 Lit. morning in your days
  7. Job 38:14 The Heb. lacks the earth’s hills and valleys
  8. Job 38:29 The Heb. lacks an empty
  9. Job 38:30 Or harden
  10. Job 38:35 Lit. Here we are
  11. Job 38:37 Lit. cause to rest, lie down