Chapter 39

God Speaks of Nature and Its Beings

1 “Do you know the time the 1amountain goats give birth?

Do you observe the calving of the bdeer?

2 “Can you count the months they fulfill,

Or do you know the time they give birth?

3 “They kneel down, they bring forth their young,

They get rid of their labor pains.

4 “Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field;

They leave and do not return to them.

5 “Who sent out the awild donkey free?

And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

6 To whom I gave athe wilderness for a home

And the salt land for his dwelling place?

7 “He scorns the tumult of the city,

The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.

8 “He explores the mountains for his pasture

And searches after every green thing.

9 “Will the awild ox consent to serve you,

Or will he spend the night at your manger?

10 “Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with 1ropes,

Or will he harrow the valleys after you?

11 “Will you trust him because his strength is great

And leave your labor to him?

12 “Will you have faith in him that he will return your 1grain

And gather it from your threshing floor?

13 “The ostriches’ wings flap joyously

With the pinion and plumage of 1love,

14 For she abandons her eggs to the earth

And warms them in the dust,

15 And she forgets that a foot may crush 1them,

Or that a wild beast may trample 1them.

16 “She treats her young acruelly, as if they were not hers;

Though her labor be in vain, she is 1unconcerned;

17 Because God has made her forget wisdom,

And has not given her a share of understanding.

18 “When she lifts herself 1on high,

She laughs at the horse and his rider.

19 “Do you give the horse his might?

Do you clothe his neck with a mane?

20 “Do you make him aleap like the locust?

His majestic bsnorting is terrible.

21 “1He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;

He agoes out to meet the weapons.

22 “He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

And he does not turn back from the sword.

23 “The quiver rattles against him,

The flashing spear and javelin.

24 “With shaking and rage he 1races over the ground,

And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet.

25 “As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’

And he scents the battle from afar,

And the thunder of the captains and the war cry.

26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,

Stretching his wings toward the south?

27 “Is it at your 1command that the eagle mounts up

And makes ahis nest on high?

28 “On the cliff he dwells and lodges,

Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.

29 “From there he aspies out food;

His eyes see it from afar.

30 “His young ones also suck up blood;

And awhere the slain are, there is he.”

Chapter 40

Job: What Can I Say?

1 Then the Lord said to Job,

2 “Will the faultfinder acontend with the Almighty?

Let him who breproves God answer it.”

3 Then Job answered the Lord and said,

4 “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You?

I alay my hand on my mouth.

5 “Once I have spoken, and aI will not answer;

Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”

God Questions Job

6 Then the aLord answered Job out of the storm and said,

7 “Now agird up your loins like a man;

I will bask you, and you instruct Me.

8 “Will you really aannul My judgment?

Will you bcondemn Me cthat you may be justified?

9 “Or do you have an arm like God,

And can you athunder with a voice like His?

10 “aAdorn yourself with eminence and dignity,

And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.

11 “Pour out athe overflowings of your anger,

And look on everyone who is bproud, and make him low.

12 “Look on everyone who is proud, and ahumble him,

And btread down the wicked 1where they stand.

13 “aHide them in the dust together;

Bind 1them in the hidden place.

14 “Then I will also 1confess to you,

That your own right hand can save you.

God’s Power Shown in Creatures

15 “Behold now, 1Behemoth, which aI made 2as well as you;

He eats grass like an ox.

16 “Behold now, his strength in his loins

And his power in the muscles of his belly.

17 “He bends his tail like a cedar;

The sinews of his thighs are knit together.

18 “His bones are tubes of bronze;

His 1limbs are like bars of iron.

19 “He is the afirst of the ways of God;

Let his bmaker bring near his sword.

20 “Surely the mountains abring him food,

And all the beasts of the field bplay there.

21 “Under the lotus plants he lies down,

In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.

22 “The lotus plants cover him with 1shade;

The willows of the brook surround him.

23 “If a river 1rages, he is not alarmed;

He is confident, though the aJordan rushes to his mouth.

24 “Can anyone capture him 1when he is on watch,

With 2barbs can anyone pierce his nose?

Chapter 41

God’s Power Shown in Creatures

1 “1Can you draw out 2aLeviathan with a fishhook?

Or press down his tongue with a cord?

2 “Can you aput a 1rope in his nose

Or pierce his jaw with a 2hook?

3 “Will he make many supplications to you,

Or will he speak to you soft words?

4 “Will he make a covenant with you?

Will you take him for a servant forever?

5 “Will you play with him as with a bird,

Or will you bind him for your maidens?

6 “Will the 1traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him among the merchants?

7 “Can you fill his skin with harpoons,

Or his head with fishing spears?

8 “Lay your hand on him;

Remember the battle; 1you will not do it again!

9 “1Behold, 2your expectation is false;

Will 3you be laid low even at the sight of him?

10 “No one is so fierce that he dares to aarouse him;

Who then is he that can stand before Me?

11 “Who has 1agiven to Me that I should repay him?

Whatever is bunder the whole heaven is Mine.

12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,

Or his mighty strength, or his 1orderly frame.

13 “Who can 1strip off his outer armor?

Who can come within his double 2mail?

14 “Who can open the doors of his face?

Around his teeth there is terror.

15 “His 1strong scales are his pride,

Shut up as with a tight seal.

16 “One is so near to another

That no air can come between them.

17 “They are joined one to another;

They clasp each other and cannot be separated.

18 “His sneezes flash forth light,

And his eyes are like the aeyelids of the morning.

19 “Out of his mouth go burning torches;

Sparks of fire leap forth.

20 “Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth

As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

21 “His breath kindles coals,

And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

22 “In his neck lodges strength,

And dismay leaps before him.

23 “The folds of his flesh are joined together,

Firm on him and immovable.

24 “His heart is as hard as a stone,

Even as hard as a lower millstone.

25 “When he raises himself up, the 1mighty fear;

Because of the crashing they are bewildered.

26 “The sword that reaches him cannot avail,

Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.

27 “He regards iron as straw,

Bronze as rotten wood.

28 “The 1arrow cannot make him flee;

Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

29 “Clubs are regarded as stubble;

He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

30 “His underparts are like sharp potsherds;

He 1spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.

31 “He makes the depths boil like a pot;

He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

32 “Behind him he makes a wake to shine;

One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

33 “aNothing on 1earth is like him,

One made without fear.

34 “1He looks on everything that is high;

He is king over all the asons of pride.”