Job 40–41

40The Lord answered Job:

²Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?

Let him who argues with God give an answer.^F

³Then Job answered the Lord:

⁴I am so insignificant. How can I answer you?^c

I place my hand over my mouth.

⁵I have spoken once, and I will not reply;

twice, but now I can add nothing.^d

⁶Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:^e

⁷Get ready to answer me like a man;

when I question^f you, you will inform me.

⁸Would you really challenge my justice?

Would you declare me guilty^g to justify yourself?^h

⁹Do you have an arm like God’s?

Can you thunder with a voice like his?

¹⁰Adorn yourself with majestyⁱ and splendor,

and clothe yourself with honor and glory.

¹¹Pour out your raging anger;^j

look on every proud person and humiliate him.^k

¹²Look on every proud person and humble him;^l

trample the wicked where they stand.^A

¹³Hide them together in the dust;

imprison them in the grave.^B

¹⁴Then I will confess to you

that your own right hand^m can deliver you.ⁿ

¹⁵Look at Behemoth,

which I made along with you.

He eats grass like cattle.

¹⁶Look at the strength of his back^C

and the power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He stiffens his tail like a cedar tree;

the tendons of his thighs are woven firmly together.

¹⁸His bones are bronze tubes;

his limbs are like iron rods.

¹⁹He is the foremost of God’s works;^o

only his Maker can draw the sword against him.

²⁰The hills yield food for him,

while all sorts of wild animals play there.

²¹He lies under the lotus plants,

hiding in the protection^D of marshy reeds.

²²Lotus plants cover him with their shade;

the willows by the brook surround him.

²³Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid;

he remains confident, even if the Jordan surges up to his mouth.

²⁴Can anyone capture him while he looks on,^E

or pierce his nose with snares?

41Can you pull in Leviathan^p with a hook^q

or tie his tongue down with a rope?

²Can you put a cord^F through his nose

or pierce his jaw with a hook?^r

³Will he beg you for mercy

or speak softly to you?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you

so that you can take him as a slave forever?^s

⁵Can you play with him like a bird

or put him on a leash^G for your girls?

⁶Will traders bargain for him

or divide him among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill his hide with harpoons

or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay a^H hand on him.

You will remember the battle

and never repeat it!

⁹Any hope of capturing him proves false.

Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him?

¹⁰No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan;^t

who then can stand against me?

¹¹Who confronted me, that I should repay him?

Everything under heaven belongs to me.^a

¹²I cannot be silent about his limbs,

his power, and his graceful proportions.

¹³Who can strip off his outer covering?

Who can penetrate his double layer of armor?^Ab

¹⁴Who can open his jaws,^B

surrounded by those terrifying teeth?

¹⁵His pride is in his rows of scales,

closely sealed together.

¹⁶One scale is so close to another^C

that no air can pass between them.

¹⁷They are joined to one another,

so closely connected^D they cannot be separated.

¹⁸His snorting^E flashes with light,

while his eyes are like the rays^F of dawn.

¹⁹Flaming torches shoot from his mouth;

fiery sparks fly out!

²⁰Smoke billows from his nostrils^c

as from a boiling pot or burning reeds.

²¹His breath sets coals ablaze,

and flames pour out of his mouth.

²²Strength resides in his neck,

and dismay dances before him.

²³The folds of his flesh are joined together,

solid as metal^G and immovable.

²⁴His heart is as hard as a rock,

as hard as a lower millstone!

²⁵When Leviathan rises, the mighty^H are terrified;

they withdraw because of his thrashing.

²⁶The sword that reaches him will have no effect,

nor will a spear, dart, or arrow.

²⁷He regards iron as straw,

and bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸No arrow can make him flee;

slingstones become like stubble to him.

²⁹A club is regarded as stubble,

and he laughs^d at the sound of a javelin.

³⁰His undersides are jagged potsherds,

spreading the mud like a threshing sledge.^e

³¹He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron;

he makes the sea like an ointment jar.

³²He leaves a shining wake behind him;^I

one would think the deep had gray hair!

³³He has no equal on earth—

a creature devoid of fear!

³⁴He surveys everything that is haughty;

he is king over all the proud beasts.^J