40 And the Lord xsaid to Job:

2  “Shall a faultfinder ycontend with the Almighty?

He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Job Promises Silence

3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:

4  “Behold, I am zof small account; what shall I answer you?

aI lay my hand on my mouth.

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

btwice, but I will proceed no further.”

The Lord Challenges Job

6 Then the Lord canswered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

7  d“Dress for action1 like a man;

eI will question you, and you make it known to me.

8  Will you even put me in the wrong?

Will you condemn me that fyou may be in the right?

9  Have you gan arm like God,

and can you thunder with ha voice like his?

10  “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;

iclothe yourself with glory and splendor.

11  Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

and look on everyone who is jproud and abase him.

12  Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low

and ktread down the wicked lwhere they stand.

13  mHide them all in nthe dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.2

14  Then will I also acknowledge to you

that your own oright hand can save you.

15  “Behold, Behemoth,3

which I made as I made you;

he eats pgrass like an ox.

16  Behold, his strength in his loins,

and his power in the muscles of his belly.

17  He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

18  His bones are tubes of bronze,

his limbs like bars of iron.

19  “He is qthe first of rthe works4 of God;

let him who made him bring near his sword!

20  For the mountains yield food for him

where all the wild beasts play.

21  Under the lotus plants he lies,

in the shelter of sthe reeds and in the marsh.

22  For his shade the lotus trees cover him;

the willows of the brook surround him.

23  Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;

he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

24  Can one take him by his eyes,5

or pierce his nose with a snare?

41 1 “Can you draw out uLeviathan2 with a fishhook

or press down his tongue with a cord?

2  Can you put va rope in his nose

or pierce his jaw with va hook?

3  Will he make many pleas to you?

Will he speak to you soft words?

4  Will he make a covenant with you

to take him for wyour servant forever?

5  Will you play with him as with a bird,

or will you put him on a leash for your girls?

6  Will traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him up among the merchants?

7  Can you fill his skin with harpoons

or his head with fishing spears?

8  Lay your hands on him;

remember the battle—you will not do it again!

9  3 Behold, the hope of a man is false;

he is laid low even at the sight of him.

10  No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.

Who then is he who can stand before me?

11  xWho has first given to me, that I should repay him?

yWhatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

12  “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,

or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.

13  Who can strip off his outer garment?

Who would come near him with a bridle?

14  Who can open the doors of his face?

Around his teeth is terror.

15  His back is made of4 rows of shields,

shut up closely as with a seal.

16  One is so near to another

that no air can come between them.

17  They are zjoined one to another;

they clasp each other and cannot be separated.

18  His sneezings flash forth light,

and his eyes are like athe eyelids of the dawn.

19  Out of his mouth go flaming torches;

sparks of fire leap forth.

20  Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,

as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

21  His breath bkindles coals,

and a flame comes forth from his mouth.

22  In his neck abides strength,

and terror dances before him.

23  The folds of his flesh cstick together,

firmly cast on him and immovable.

24  His heart is hard as a stone,

hard as the lower millstone.

25  When he raises himself up, the mighty5 are afraid;

at the crashing they are beside themselves.

26  Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,

nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

27  He counts iron as straw,

and bronze as rotten wood.

28  The arrow cannot make him flee;

for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.

29  Clubs are counted as stubble;

he laughs at the rattle of javelins.

30  His underparts are like sharp dpotsherds;

he spreads himself like ea threshing sledge on the mire.

31  He makes the deep boil like a pot;

he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

32  Behind him he leaves a shining wake;

one would think the deep to be white-haired.

33  fOn earth there is not his like,

a creature without fear.

34  He sees everything that is high;

he is king over all the gsons of pride.”