Job 38–41

38TH CHAPTER

The Lord Speaks:

Who Is Able to Challenge Me?

¹Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. 

²“Who is this that belittles my advice 

with words that do not show any knowledge ⸤about it⸥? 

³Brace yourself like a man! 

I will ask you, and you will teach me. 

The Lord Speaks about Creation

⁴“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? 

Tell me if you have ⸤such⸥ insight. 

⁵Who determined its dimensions? 

Certainly, you know! 

Who stretched a measuring line over it? 

⁶On what were its footings sunk? 

Who laid its cornerstone 

⁷when the morning stars sang together 

and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 

⁸“Who shut the sea behind gates 

when it burst through and came out of the womb, 

⁹when I clothed it with clouds 

and wrapped it up in dark clouds, 

¹⁰when I set a limit for it 

and put up bars and gates, 

¹¹when I said, ‘You may come this far but no farther. 

Here your proud waves will stop’? 

¹²“Have you ever given orders to the morning 

or assigned a place for the dawn 

¹³so that it could grab the earth by its edges 

and shake wicked people out of it? 

¹⁴The earth changes like clay stamped by a seal, 

and ⸤parts of it⸥ stand out like ⸤folds in⸥ clothing. 

¹⁵Wicked people are deprived of their light, 

and an arm raised ⸤in victory⸥ is broken. 

¹⁶Have you gone to the springs in the sea 

or walked through the valleys of the ocean depths? 

¹⁷Have the gateways to death been revealed to you, 

or have you seen the gateways to total darkness? 

¹⁸Have you ⸤even⸥ considered how wide the earth is? 

Tell me, if you know all of this! 

¹⁹“What is the way to the place where light lives? 

Where is the home of darkness 

²⁰so that you may lead it to its territory, 

so that you may know the path to its home? 

²¹You must know because you were born then 

and have lived such a long time! 

²²Have you been to the warehouses where snow is stored 

or seen the warehouses for hail 

²³that I have stored up for the time of trouble, 

for the day of battle and war? 

²⁴Which is the way to the place where light is scattered 

and the east wind is spread across the earth? 

²⁵“Who made a channel for the flooding rains 

and a path for the thunderstorms 

²⁶to bring rain on a land where no one lives, 

on a desert where there are no humans, 

²⁷to saturate the desolate wasteland 

in order to make it sprout with grass? 

²⁸Does the rain have a father? 

Who gave birth to the dewdrops? 

²⁹From whose womb came the ice, 

and who has given birth to the frost in the air? 

³⁰The water hardens like a stone, 

and the surface of the ocean freezes over. 

³¹“Can you connect the chains of the ⸤constellation⸥ Pleiades 

or untie the ropes of Orion? 

³²Can you bring out the constellations at the right time 

or guide Ursa Major with its cubs? 

³³Do you know the laws of the sky 

or make them rule the earth? 

³⁴Can you call to the clouds 

and have a flood of water cover you? 

³⁵Can you send lightning flashes so that they may go and say to you, 

‘Here we are’? 

³⁶Who put wisdom in the heart 

or gave understanding to the mind? 

³⁷Who is wise enough to count the clouds 

or pour out the water jars of heaven 

³⁸when the dirt hardens into clumps 

and the soil clings together? 

The Lioness

³⁹“Can you hunt prey for the lioness 

and satisfy the hunger of her cubs 

⁴⁰as they crouch in their dens 

and lie ready to ambush from their lairs? 

The Crow

⁴¹“Who provides food for the crow 

when its young ones cry to God 

and wander around in need of food? 

39TH CHAPTER

The Lord Continues: the Mountain Goats

¹“Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? 

Do you watch the does when they are in labor? 

²Can you count the months they are pregnant 

or know the time when they’ll give birth? 

³They kneel down to give birth and deliver their young. 

Then the pain of giving birth is over. 

⁴Their young are healthy and grow up in the wild. 

They leave and don’t come back. 

The Wild Donkey

⁵“Who lets the wild donkey go free? 

Who unties the ropes of the wild donkey? 

⁶I gave it the desert to live in 

and the salt flats as its dwelling place. 

⁷It laughs at the noise of the city 

and doesn’t ⸤even⸥ listen to the shouting of its master. 

⁸It explores the mountains for its pasture 

and looks for anything green. 

The Wild Ox

⁹“Will the wild ox agree to serve you, 

or will it stay at night beside your feeding trough? 

¹⁰Can you guide a wild ox in a furrow, 

or will it plow the valleys behind you? 

¹¹Can you trust it just because it’s so strong 

or leave your labor to it? 

¹²Can you rely on it to bring your grain back 

and take it to your threshing floor?^a

The Ostrich

¹³“Does the ostrich flap its wings in joy, 

or do its wings lack feathers?^b

¹⁴It lays its eggs on the ground 

and warms them in the dust. 

¹⁵It forgets that a foot may crush them 

or a wild animal may trample them. 

¹⁶It acts harshly toward its young as if they weren’t its own. 

It is not afraid that its work is for nothing 

¹⁷because God has deprived it of wisdom 

and did not give it any understanding. 

¹⁸It laughs at the horse and its rider when it gets up to flee. 

The Horse

¹⁹“Can you give strength to a horse 

or dress its neck with a flowing mane? 

²⁰Can you make it leap like a locust, 

when its snorting causes terror? 

²¹It paws in strength and finds joy in its power. 

It charges into battle. 

²²It laughs at fear, 

is afraid of nothing, 

and doesn’t back away from swords. 

²³A quiver of arrows rattles on it 

along with the flashing spear and javelin. 

²⁴Anxious and excited, the horse eats up the ground 

and doesn’t trust the sound of the ram’s horn. 

²⁵As often as the horn sounds, the horse says, ‘Aha!’ 

and it smells the battle far away— 

the thundering ⸤orders⸥ of the captains and the battle cries. 

The Birds of Prey

²⁶“Does your understanding make a bird of prey fly 

and spread its wings toward the south? 

²⁷Is it by your order that the eagle flies high 

and makes its nest on the heights? 

²⁸It perches for the night on a cliff. 

Its fortress is on a jagged peak. 

²⁹From there it seeks food, 

and its eyes see it from far away. 

³⁰Its young ones feed on blood. 

It is found wherever there are dead bodies.” 

40TH CHAPTER

The Lord Speaks

¹The Lord responded to Job, 

²“Will the person who finds fault with the Almighty correct him? 

Will the person who argues with God answer him?” 

Job Speaks

³Job answered the Lord, 

⁴“I’m so insignificant. How can I answer you? 

I will put my hand over my mouth. 

⁵I spoke once, but I can’t answer— 

twice, but not again.” 

The Lord Speaks:

Can You Be Like Me, Job?

⁶Then the Lord responded to Job out of a storm, 

⁷“Brace yourself like a man! 

I will ask you, and you will teach me. 

⁸“Would you undo my justice? 

Would you condemn me so that you can be righteous? 

⁹Do you have power like God’s? 

Can you thunder with a voice like his? 

¹⁰Then dress yourself in majesty and dignity. 

Clothe yourself in splendor and glory. 

¹¹Unleash your outbursts of anger. 

Look at all who are arrogant, and put them down. 

¹²Look at all who are arrogant, and humble them. 

Crush wicked people wherever they are. 

¹³Hide them completely in the dust, 

and cover their faces in the hidden place. 

¹⁴Then even I will praise you 

because your right hand can save you. 

Can You Conquer Behemoth, Job?

¹⁵“Look at Behemoth,^awhich I made along with you. 

It eats grass as cattle do. 

¹⁶Look at the strength in its back muscles, 

the power in its stomach muscles. 

¹⁷It makes its tail stiff like a cedar. 

The ligaments of its thighs are intertwined. 

¹⁸Its bones are bronze tubes. 

They are like iron bars. 

¹⁹Behemoth is the first of God’s conquests. 

Its maker approaches it with his sword. 

²⁰The hills bring it food, 

and all the wild animals play there. 

²¹It lies down under the lotus plants 

in a hiding place among reeds and swamps. 

²²Lotus plants provide it with cover. 

Poplars by the stream surround it. 

²³Though the river flows powerfully against it, it’s not alarmed. 

It’s confident ⸤even⸥ when the Jordan rushes against its mouth. 

²⁴Can anyone blind its eyes^b

or pierce its nose with snares? 

41ST CHAPTER^a

The Lord Continues: Can You Conquer Leviathan, Job?

¹“Can you pull Leviathanout ⸤of the water⸥ with a fishhook 

or tie its tongue down with a rope? 

²Can you put a ring through its nose 

or pierce its jaw with a hook? 

³Will it plead with you for mercy 

or speak tenderly to you? 

⁴Will it make an agreement with you 

so that you can take it as your permanent slave? 

⁵Can you play with it like a bird 

or keep it on a leash for your girls? 

⁶Will traders bargain over it 

and divide it among the merchants? 

⁷Can you fill its hide with harpoons 

or its head with fishing spears? 

⁸Lay your hand on it. 

Think of the struggle! 

Don’t do it again! 

⁹Certainly, any hope ⸤of defeating it⸥ is a false hope. 

Doesn’t the sight of it overwhelm you? 

¹⁰No one is brave enough to provoke Leviathan. 

Then who can stand in front of me?^c

¹¹Who can confront me that I should repay him? 

Everything under heaven belongs to me! 

¹²“I will not be silent about Leviathan’s limbs, 

its strength, or its graceful form. 

¹³Who can skin its hide? 

Who can approach it with a harness? 

¹⁴Who can open its closed mouth? 

Its teeth are surrounded by terror. 

¹⁵Its back has rows of scales that are tightly sealed. 

¹⁶One is so close to the other 

that there is no space between them. 

¹⁷Each is joined to the other. 

They are locked together and inseparable. 

¹⁸When Leviathan sneezes, it gives out a flash of light. 

Its eyes are like the first rays of the dawn. 

¹⁹Flames shoot from its mouth. 

Sparks of fire fly from it. 

²⁰Smoke comes from its nostrils 

like a boiling pot heated over brushwood. 

²¹Its breath sets coals on fire, 

and a flame pours from its mouth. 

²²Strength resides in its neck, 

and power dances in front of it. 

²³The folds of its flesh stick to each other. 

They are solid and cannot be moved. 

²⁴Its chest is solid like a rock, 

solid like a millstone. 

²⁵“The mighty are afraid when Leviathan rises. 

Broken down, they draw back. 

²⁶A sword may strike it but not pierce it. 

Neither will a spear, lance, or dart. 

²⁷It considers iron to be like straw 

and bronze to…