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Job 38

Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel

Job chapter 38 is given here in full, verse by verse, in Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), with the Greek text of the Septuagint set beneath each verse. The text follows the Septuagint tradition received throughout the Orthodox Church.

Patristic commentary for this chapter has not yet been attached. Related material may be found among the Church Fathers and the theology tables.

Job 38

1And after Elius had ceased from speaking, the Lord spoke to Job through the whirlwind and clouds, saying,Μετὰ δὲ τὸ παύσασθαι Ἐλιοὺν τῆς λέξεως, εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Ἰὼβ διὰ λαίλαπος καὶ νεφῶν,

2Who is this that hides counsel from me, and confines words in his heart, and thinks to conceal them from me?Τίς οὗτος ὁ κρύπτων με βουλὴν, συνέχεν δὲ ῥήματα ἐν καρδίᾳ, ἐμὲ δὲ οἴεται κρύπτειν;

3Gird your loins like a man; and I will ask you, and do you answer me.Ζώσαι ὥσπερ ἀνὴρ τὴν ὀσφύν σου· ἐρωτήσω δέ σε, σὺ δέ μοι ἀποκρίθητι.

4Where were you when I founded the earth? tell me now, if you have knowledge,Ποῦ ἦς ἐν τῷ θεμελιοῦν με τὴν γῆν; ἀπάγγειλον δέ μοι εἰ ἐπίστῃ σύνεσιν.

5who set the measures of it, if you know? or who stretched a line upon it?Τίς ἔθετο τὰ μέτρα αὐτῆς, εἰ οἶδας; ἢ τίς ὁ ἐπαγαγὼν σπαρτίον ἐπʼ αὐτῆς;

6On what are its rings fastened? and who is he that laid the corner-stone upon it?Ἐπὶ τίνος οἱ κρίκοι αὐτῆς πεπήγασι; τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ βαλὼν λίθον γωνιαῖον ἐπʼ αὐτῆς;

7When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice.Ὅτε ἐγενήθησαν ἄστρα, ᾔνεσάν με φωνῇ μεγάλῃ πάντες ἄγγελοί μου.

8And I shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed out, coming forth out its mother's womb.Ἔφραξα δὲ θάλασσαν πύλαις, ὅτε ἐμαίμασσεν ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς αὐγῆς ἐκπορευομένη·

9And I made a cloud its clothing, and swathed it in mist.Ἐθέμην δὲ αὐτῇ νέφος ἀμφίασιν, ὁμίχλῃ δὲ αὐτὴν ἐσπαργάνωσα.

10And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates.Ἐθέμην δὲ αὐτῇ ὅρια, περιθεὶς κλεῖθρα καὶ πύλας.

11And I said to it, Hitherto shall you come, but you shall not go beyond, but your waves shall be confined within you.Εἶπα δὲ αὐτῇ, μέχρι τούτου ἐλεύσῃ, καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβήσῃ, ἀλλʼ ἐν σεαυτῇ συντριβήσεταί σου τὰ κύματα.

12Or did I order the morning light in your time; and did the morning star then first see his appointed place;Ἢ ἐπὶ σοῦ συντέταχα φέγγος πρωϊνόν; Ἑωσφόρος δὲ ἶδε τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τάξιν,

13to lay hold of the extremities of the earth, to cast out the ungodly out of it?ἐπιλαβέσθαι πτερύγων γῆς, ἐκτινάξαι ἀσεβεῖς ἐξ αὐτῆς;

14Or did you take clay of the ground, and form a living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth?Ἢ σὺ λαβὼν γῆν πηλὸν, ἔπλασας ζῶον, καὶ λαλητὸν αὐτὸν ἔθου ἐπὶ γῆς;

15And have you removed light from the ungodly, and crushed the arm of the proud?Ἀφεῖλες δὲ ἀπὸ ἀσεβῶν τὸ φῶς, βραχίονα δὲ ὑπερηφάνων συνέτριψας;

16Or have you gone to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the deep?Ἦλθες δὲ ἐπὶ πηγὴν θαλάσσης, ἐν δὲ ἴχνεσιν ἀβύσσου περιεπάτησας;

17And do the gates of death open to you for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw you?Ἀνοίγονται δέ σοι φόβῳ πύλαι θανάτου, πυλωροὶ δὲ ᾅδου ἰδόντες σε ἔπτηξαν;

18And have you been instructed in the breadth of the whole earth under heaven? tell me now, what is the extent of it?Νενουθέτησαι δὲ τὸ εὖρος τῆς ὑπʼ οὐρανόν; ἀνάγγειλον δή μοι, πόση τίς ἐστι;

19And in what kind of a land does the light dwell? and of what kind is the place of darkness?Ποίᾳ δὲ γῇ αὐλίζεται τὸ φῶς; σκότους δὲ ποῖος ὁ τόπος;

20If you could bring me to their utmost boundaries, and if also you know their paths;Εἰ ἀγάγοις με εἰς ὅρια αὐτῶν, εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐπίστασαι τρίβους αὐτῶν·

21I know then that you were born at that time, and the number of your years is great.Οἶδα ἄρα ὅτι τότε γεγέννησαι, ἀριθμὸς δὲ ἐτῶν σου πολύς;

22But have you gone to the treasures of snow? and have you seen the treasures of hail?Ἦλθες δὲ ἐπὶ θησαυροὺς χιόνος, θησαυροὺς δὲ χαλάζης ἑώρακας;

23And is there a store of them, for you against the time of your enemies, for the day of wars and battle?Ἀπόκειται δέ σοι εἰς ὥραν ἐχθρῶν, εἰς ἡμέραν πολέμων καὶ μάχης;

24And whence proceeds the frost? or whence is the south wind dispersed over the whole world under heaven?Πόθεν δὲ ἐκπορεύεται πάχνη, ἢ διασκεδάννυται Νότος εἰς τὴν ὑπʼ οὐρανόν;

25And who prepared a course for the violent rain, and a way for the thunders;Τίς δὲ ἡτοίμασεν ὑετῷ λάβρῳ ῥύσιν, ὁδὸν δὲ κυδοιμῶν,

26to rain upon the land where there is no man, the wilderness, where there is not a man in it; so as to feed the untrodden and uninhabited land,τοῦ ὑετίσαι ἐπὶ γῆν οὗ οὐκ ἀνήρ, ἔρημον οὗ οὐχ ὑπάρχει ἄνθρωπος ἐν αὐτῇ,

27and cause it to send forth a crop of green herbs?τοῦ χορτάσαι ἄβατον καὶ ἀοίκητον, καὶ τοῦ ἐκβλαστῆσαι ἔξοδον χλόης;

28Who is the rain's father? and who has generated the drops of dew?Τίς ἐστιν ὑετοῦ πατήρ; τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ τετοκὼς βώλους δρόσου;

29And out of whose womb comes the ice? and who has produced the frost in the sky,Ἐκ γαστρὸς δὲ τίνος ἐκπορεύεται ὁ κρύσταλλος; πάχνην δὲ ἐν οὐρανῷ τίς τέτοκεν,

30which descends like flowing water? who has terrified the face of the ungodly?ἣ καταβαίνει ὥσπερ ὕδωρ ῥέον; πρόσωπον ἀσεβοῦς τίς ἔπτηξε;

31And do you understand the band of Pleias, and have you opened the barrier of Orion?Συνῆκας δὲ δεσμὸν Πλειάδος, καὶ φραγμὸν Ὠρίωνος ἤνοιξας;

32Or will you reveal Mazuroth in his season, and the evening star with his rays? Will you guide them?Ἢ διανοίξεις μαζουρὼθ ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἕσπερον ἐπὶ κόμης αὐτοῦ ἄξεις αὐτά;

33And know you the changes of heaven, or the events which take place together under heaven?Ἐπίστασαι δὲ τροπὰς οὐρανοῦ, ἢ τὰ ὑπʼ οὐρανὸν ὁμοθυμαδὸν γινόμενα;

34And will you call a cloud with your voice, and will it obey you with a violent shower of much rain?καλέσεις δὲ νέφος φωνῇ, καὶ τρόμῳ ὕδατος λάβρου ὑπακούσεταί σου;

35And will you send lightnings, and they shall go? and shall they say to you, What is your pleasure?Ἀποστελεῖς δὲ κεραυνοὺς καὶ πορεύσονται; ἐροῦσι δέ σοι, τί ἐστι;

36And who has given to women skill in weaving, or knowledge of embroidery?Τίς δὲ ἔδωκε γυναιξὶν ὑφάσματος σοφίαν, ἢ ποικιλτικὴν ἐπιστήμην;

37And who is he that numbers the clouds in wisdom, and has bowed the heaven down to the earth?Τίς δὲ ὁ ἀριθμῶν νέφη σοφίᾳ, οὐρανὸν δὲ εἰς γῆν ἔκλινε;

38For it is spread out as dusty earth, and I have cemented it as one hewn stone to another.Κέχυται δὲ ὥσπερ γῆ κονία, κεκόλληκα δὲ αὐτὸν ὥσπερ λίθῳ κύβον.

39And will you hunt a prey for the lions? and satisfy the desires of the serpents?Θηρεύσεις δὲ λέουσι βορὰν, ψυχὰς δὲ δρακόντων ἐμπλήσεις;

40For they fear in their lairs, and lying in wait couch in the woods.Δεδοίκασι γὰρ ἐν κοίταις αὐτῶν, κάθηνται δὲ ἐν ὕλαις ἐνεδρεύοντες.

41And who has prepared food for the raven? for its young ones wander and cry to the Lord, in search of food.Τίς δὲ ἡτοίμασε κόρακι βοράν; νεοσσοὶ γὰρ αὐτοῦ πρὸς Κύριον κεκράγασι πλανώμενοι, τὰ σῖτα ζητοῦντες.

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