God interposes and shews from the things he hath made, that man cannot
comprehend his power and wisdom.
38:1. Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said:
The Lord. That is, an angel speaking in the name of the Lord.
38:2. Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskilful words?
38:3. Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer thou
me.
38:4. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? tell me
if thou hast understanding.
38:5. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest or who hath
stretched the line upon it?
38:6. Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner stone
thereof,
38:7. When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of
God made a joyful melody?
38:8. Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing
out of the womb:
38:9. When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a mist
as in swaddling bands?
38:10. I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors:
38:11. And I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further,
and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves.
38:12. Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the
dawning of the day its place?
38:13. And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking them,
and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it?
38:14. The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a
garment.
38:15. From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high
arm shall be broken.
38:16. Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the
lowest parts of the deep?
38:17. Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen
the darksome doors?
38:18. Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou
knowest all things?
38:19. Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place of
darkness?
38:20. That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and
understand the paths of the house thereof.
38:21. Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born? and didst thou
know the number of thy days?
38:22. Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or hast thou
beheld the treasures of the hail:
38:23. Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day
of battle and war?
38:24. By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the
earth?
38:25. Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy
thunder:
38:26. That it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness,
where no mortal dwelleth:
38:27. That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and should
bring forth green grass?
38:28. Who is the father of rain? or who begot the drops of dew?
38:29. Out of whose womb came the ice? and the frost from heaven who
hath gendered it?
38:30. The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the
deep is congealed.
38:31. Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the
Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus?
Pleiades.... Hebrew, Cimah. A cluster of seven stars in the
constellation Taurus or the Bull. Arcturus, a bright star in the
constellation Bootes. The Hebrew name Cesil, is variously interpreted;
by some, Orion; by others, the Great Bear is understood.
38:32. Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make the
evening star to rise upon the children of the earth?
38:33. Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the
reason thereof on the earth?
38:34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance of
waters may cover thee?
38:35. Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they
return and say to thee: Here we are?
38:36. Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock
understanding?
Understanding.... That instinct by which he distinguishes the times of
crowing in the night.
38:37. Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make the
harmony of heaven to sleep?
38:38. When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods fastened
together?
38:39. Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the
appetite of her whelps,
38:40. When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes?
38:41. Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry to
God, wandering about, because they have no meat?