Job 40–41

40Then^a Yahweh answered Job and said,

²“Shall a faultfinder contend with Shaddai?

Anyone who argues with God must answer it.”

Job Responds to Yahweh

³So Job answered Yahweh and said,

⁴“Look, I am insignificant.

What shall I answer you?

I lay my hand on my mouth.

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

even^b twice, but^c I will not proceed.”

Yahweh Challenges Job Again

⁶Then^d Yahweh answered Job from the storm, and he said,

⁷“Prepare yourself for a difficult task like a man,^e

and I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

Yahweh Interrogates Job Again

⁸“Indeed, would you annul my justice?

Would you condemn me, so that you might be righteous?

⁹Or do you have an arm like God,

and can you thunder with a voice like his?

¹⁰Adorn^f yourself with pride and dignity,

and clothe yourself with splendor.

¹¹Pour out the overflowing of your anger,

and look at all the proud, and humble them.

¹²Look at all the proud, humble them,

and tread down the wicked where they stand.^g

¹³Hide them in the dust together;

bind their faces in the grave.

¹⁴And I will also praise you,

that your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵“Look, Behemoth,^h which I have made just as I made you;

it eats grass like the ox.

¹⁶Look, its strength is in its loins

and its power in the muscles of its stomach.

¹⁷It keeps its tail straight like a cedar;

the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound.

¹⁸Its bones are tubes of copper,

its limbs like rods of iron.

¹⁹“It is the first of God’s actions;

the one who made him furnishes it with his sword.ⁱ

²⁰Yes, the mountains yield produce for it,

and all wild animals^j play there.

²¹Under the lotus tree it lies,

in the hiding place of the reeds and in the marsh.

²²The lotus trees cover it with their shade;

the wadi’s^k poplar trees surround it.

²³Look, if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened;

it is confident even though the Jordan rushes against its mouth.

²⁴Can anyone take it by its eyes?

Can he pierce its nose with a snare?

41^a “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?

Or^b can you tie down its mouth with a cord?^c

²Can you put a rope in its nose?

Or^d can you pierce its jawbone with a hook?

³Will it make numerous pleas for mercy to you?

Or will it speak gentle words to you?

⁴Will it make a covenant with you?

Will you take it as a slave forever?

⁵Will you play with it as with birds

and put it on a leash for your girls?

⁶Will guildsmen bargain over it?

Will they divide it between tradesmen?

⁷Can you fill its skin with harpoons

or^e its head with fish spears?

⁸Lay your hands on it;

think about the battle—you will not do it again!

⁹“Look, the hope of capturing it^f is false.

Will one be hurled down even at its sight?

¹⁰Is it not fierce when somebody stirs it?

Who then is he who would stand before it?^g

¹¹Who has come to confront me, that^h I should repay him?

Under all the heavens, it belongs to me.ⁱ

¹²“I will not keep quiet concerning its limbs

or^j concerning the extent of its might and the gracefulness of its frame.

¹³Who can strip off its outer covering?^k

Who can penetrate its double harness?

¹⁴Who can open the doors of its face?

Its teeth all around are fearsome.

¹⁵Its back^l has scales of shields;

it is shut up closely as with a seal.

¹⁶They are close to one another—^m

evenⁿ the air cannot come between them.

¹⁷They are joined one to another;^o

they cling together and cannot be separated.

¹⁸“Its snorting flashes forth light,

and its eyes are red like dawn.^p

¹⁹Torches go from its mouth;

sparks of fire shoot out.

²⁰Smoke comes from its nostrils

as from a kettle boiling and burning bulrushes.

²¹Its breath kindles charcoal,

and a flame comes from its mouth.

²²“Strength abides in its neck,

and dismay^q dances before it.^r

²³Its flesh’s folds of skin cling together;

it is cast on it—it will not be moved.

²⁴Its heart is cast as stone;

yes,^s it is cast as the lower millstone.

²⁵When it raises itself,^t the mighty ones are terrified;

they retreat because of its thrashing.

²⁶Reaching it with the sword does not avail,

nor with the spear, the dart, or^u the javelin.

²⁷It regards iron as straw,

bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸An arrow^v will not make it flee;

sling stones are turned to stubble for it.

²⁹Clubs are regarded as stubble,

and it laughs at the short sword’s rattle.

³⁰“Its underparts are shards of a potsherd;

it moves over mud like a threshing sledge.

³¹It makes the deep boil like a cooking pot;

it makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

³²Behind it, it leaves a glistening wake;^w

one would think that the deep has gray hair.

³³“On the ground it has no equal^x—

a^y creature without fear.

³⁴It observes all the lofty;

it is king over all that are proud.”^z