Job 40–42

40Moreover Jehovah answered Job, and said,

²Shall he that cavilleth contend with the Almighty?

He that argueth with God, let him answer it.

³Then Job answered Jehovah, and said,

⁴Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer thee?

I lay my hand upon my mouth.

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

Yea, twice, but I will proceed no further.

⁶Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

⁷Gird up thy loins now like a man:

I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

⁸Wilt thou even annul my judgment?

Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justified?

⁹Or hast thou an arm like God?

And canst thou thunder with a voice like him?

¹⁰Deck thyself now with excellency and dignity;

And array thyself with honor and majesty.

¹¹Pour forth the overflowings of thine anger;

And look upon every one that is proud, and abase him.

¹²Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low;

And tread down the wicked where they stand.

¹³Hide them in the dust together;

Bind their faces in the hidden place.

¹⁴Then will I also confess of thee

That thine own right hand can save thee.

¹⁵Behold now, behemoth, which I made as well as thee;

He eateth grass as an ox.

¹⁶Lo now, his strength is in his loins,

And his force is in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He moveth his tail like a cedar:

The sinews of his thighs are knit together.

¹⁸His bones are as tubes of brass;

His limbs are like bars of iron.

¹⁹He is the chief of the ways of God:

He only that made him giveth him his sword.

²⁰Surely the mountains bring him forth food,

Where all the beasts of the field do play.

²¹He lieth under the lotus-trees,

In the covert of the reed, and the fen.

²²The lotus-trees cover him with their shade;

The willows of the brook compass him about.

²³Behold, if a river overflow, he trembleth not;

He is confident, though a Jordan swell even to his mouth.

²⁴Shall any take him when he is on the watch,

Or pierce through his nose with a snare?

41Canst thou draw out leviathan with a fishhook?

Or press down his tongue with a cord?

²Canst thou put a rope into his nose?

Or pierce his jaw through with a hook?

³Will he make many supplications unto thee?

Or will he speak soft words unto thee?

⁴Will he make a covenant with thee,

That thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever?

⁵Wilt thou play with him as with a bird?

Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?

⁶Will the bands of fishermen make traffic of him?

Will they part him among the merchants?

⁷Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons,

Or his head with fish-spears?

⁸Lay thy hand upon him;

Remember the battle, and do so no more.

⁹Behold, the hope of him is in vain:

Will not one be cast down even at the sight of him?

¹⁰None is so fierce that he dare stir him up;

Who then is he that can stand before me?

¹¹Who hath first given unto me, that I should repay him?

Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.

¹²I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,

Nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.

¹³Who can strip off his outer garment?

Who shall come within his jaws?

¹⁴Who can open the doors of his face?

Round about his teeth is terror.

¹⁵His strong scales are his pride,

Shut up together as with a close seal.

¹⁶One is so near to another,

That no air can come between them.

¹⁷They are joined one to another;

They stick together, so that they cannot be sundered.

¹⁸His sneezings flash forth light,

And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

¹⁹Out of his mouth go burning torches,

And sparks of fire leap forth.

²⁰Out of his nostrils a smoke goeth,

As of a boiling pot and burning rushes.

²¹His breath kindleth coals,

And a flame goeth forth from his mouth.

²²In his neck abideth strength,

And terror danceth before him.

²³The flakes of his flesh are joined together:

They are firm upon him; they cannot be moved.

²⁴His heart is as firm as a stone;

Yea, firm as the nether millstone.

²⁵When he raiseth himself up, the mighty are afraid:

By reason of consternation they are beside themselves.

²⁶If one lay at him with the sword, it cannot avail;

Nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.

²⁷He counteth iron as straw,

And brass as rotten wood.

²⁸The arrow cannot make him flee:

Sling-stones are turned with him into stubble.

²⁹Clubs are counted as stubble:

He laugheth at the rushing of the javelin.

³⁰His underparts are like sharp potsherds:

He spreadeth as it were a threshing-wain upon the mire.

³¹He maketh the deep to boil like a pot:

He maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.

³²He maketh a path to shine after him;

One would think the deep to be hoary.

³³Upon earth there is not his like,

That is made without fear.

³⁴He beholdeth everything that is high:

He is king over all the sons of pride.

42Then Job answered Jehovah, and said,

²I know that thou canst do all things,

And that no purpose of thine can be restrained.

³Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge?

Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not,

Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

⁴Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak;

I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

⁵I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear;

But now mine eye seeth thee:

⁶Wherefore I abhor myself,

And repent in dust and ashes.

⁷And it was so, that, after Jehovah had spoken these words unto Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. ⁸Now therefore, take unto you seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept, that I deal not with you after your folly; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. ⁹So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as Jehovah commanded them: and Jehovah accepted Job. ¹⁰And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: and Jehovah gave Job twice as much as he had before.

¹¹Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him concerning all the evil that Jehovah had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one a ring of gold. ¹²So Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. ¹³He had also seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴And he called the name of the first, Jemimah: and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch. ¹⁵And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. ¹⁶And after this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. ¹⁷So Job died, being old and full of days.