Job 40:1–41:34

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

³Then 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.

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

^btwice, but I will proceed no further.”

The Lord Challenges Job

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

^7d“Dress for action¹ like a man;

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

⁸Will you even put me in the wrong?

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

⁹Have 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.

¹¹Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

and look on everyone who is ^jproud and abase him.

¹²Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low

and ^ktread down the wicked ^lwhere they stand.

^13mHide them all in ⁿthe dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.²

¹⁴Then 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.

¹⁶Behold, his strength in his loins,

and his power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

¹⁸His 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!

²⁰For the mountains yield food for him

where all the wild beasts play.

²¹Under the lotus plants he lies,

in the shelter of ^sthe reeds and in the marsh.

²²For his shade the lotus trees cover him;

the willows of the brook surround him.

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

he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

²⁴Can one take him by his eyes,⁵

or pierce his nose with a snare?

41¹ “Can you draw out ^uLeviathan² with a fishhook

or press down his tongue with a cord?

²Can you put ^va rope in his nose

or pierce his jaw with ^va hook?

³Will he make many pleas to you?

Will he speak to you soft words?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you

to take him for ^wyour servant forever?

⁵Will you play with him as with a bird,

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

⁶Will traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him up among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill his skin with harpoons

or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay your hands on him;

remember the battle—you will not do it again!

⁹³ Behold, the hope of a man is false;

he is laid low even at the sight of him.

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

Who then is he who can stand before me?

^11xWho 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.

¹³Who can strip off his outer garment?

Who would come near him with a bridle?

¹⁴Who can open the doors of his face?

Around his teeth is terror.

¹⁵His back is made of⁴ rows of shields,

shut up closely as with a seal.

¹⁶One is so near to another

that no air can come between them.

¹⁷They are ^zjoined one to another;

they clasp each other and cannot be separated.

¹⁸His sneezings flash forth light,

and his eyes are like ^athe eyelids of the dawn.

¹⁹Out of his mouth go flaming torches;

sparks of fire leap forth.

²⁰Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,

as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

²¹His breath ^bkindles coals,

and a flame comes forth from his mouth.

²²In his neck abides strength,

and terror dances before him.

²³The folds of his flesh ^cstick together,

firmly cast on him and immovable.

²⁴His heart is hard as a stone,

hard as the lower millstone.

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

at the crashing they are beside themselves.

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

nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

²⁷He counts iron as straw,

and bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸The arrow cannot make him flee;

for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.

²⁹Clubs are counted as stubble;

he laughs at the rattle of javelins.

³⁰His underparts are like sharp ^dpotsherds;

he spreads himself like ^ea threshing sledge on the mire.

³¹He makes the deep boil like a pot;

he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

³²Behind him he leaves a shining wake;

one would think the deep to be white-haired.

^33fOn earth there is not his like,

a creature without fear.

³⁴He sees everything that is high;

he is king over all the ^gsons of pride.”