Job 39–41

CHAPTER 39

¹“Do you know the time the ^1amountain goats give birth?

Do you keep watch over the calving of the ^bdeer?

²“Can you count the months they fulfill,

Or do you know the time they give birth?

³“They kneel down; they bring forth their young;

They send out their labor pains.

⁴“Their children become strong; they grow up in the open field;

They leave and do not return to them.

⁵“Who sent out the ^awild donkey free?

And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

⁶For whom I have set ^athe desert plain as a home

And the salt land as his dwelling place?

⁷“He laughs at the tumult of the city;

The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.

⁸“He explores the mountains for his pasture

And searches after every green thing.

⁹“Will the ^awild ox consent to serve you,

Or will he spend the night at your manger?

¹⁰“Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ¹ropes,

Or will he harrow the valleys after you?

¹¹“Will you trust him because his power is great

And leave your labor to him?

¹²“Will you believe him that he will return your seed of grain

And gather it from your threshing floor?

¹³“The ostriches’ wings flap joyously

But are they the pinion and plumage of a ¹stork?

¹⁴For she leaves her eggs to the earth

And warms them in the dust,

¹⁵And she forgets that a foot may crush ¹them,

Or that a beast of the field may trample ²them.

¹⁶“She treats her children ^acruelly, as if they were not hers;

Though her labor be empty, she is without dread,

¹⁷Because God has made her forget wisdom,

And has not given her a share of understanding.

¹⁸“When she raises herself up high,

She laughs at the horse and his rider.

¹⁹“Do you give the horse his might?

Do you clothe his neck with a mane?

²⁰“Do you make him ^aleap like the locust?

His splendid ^bsnorting is terrible.

²¹“¹He paws in the valley and rejoices in his power;

He ^agoes out to meet the weapons.

²²“He laughs at dread and is not dismayed;

And he does not turn back from the sword.

²³“The quiver rattles against him,

The flashing spear and javelin.

²⁴“With shaking and rage he ¹races over the ground,

And he does not ²stand still at the sound of the trumpet.

²⁵“As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’

And he scents the battle from afar,

And the thunder of the commanders and the shout of war.

²⁶“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,

Stretching his wings toward the south?

²⁷“Is it at your ¹command that the eagle goes on high

And raises ^ahis nest high?

²⁸“On the cliff he dwells and lodges,

Upon the rocky crag, a fortress.

²⁹“From there he ^1aspies out food;

His eyes see it from afar.

³⁰“His young ones also suck up blood;

And ^awhere the slain are, there is he.”

CHAPTER 40

Job Places His Hand Over His Mouth

¹Then Yahweh answered Job and said,

²“Will the faultfinder ^acontend with the Almighty?

Let him who ^breproves God answer it.”

³Then Job answered Yahweh and said,

⁴“Behold, I am insignificant; what can I respond to You?

I ^aplace my hand over my mouth.

⁵“Once I have spoken, and ^aI will not answer;

Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”

Yahweh Will Ask Job

⁶Then ^aYahweh answered Job out of the ¹whirlwind and said,

⁷“Now ^agird up your loins like a man;

I will ^bask you, and you make Me know.

⁸“Will you really ^aannul My judgment?

Will you ^bcondemn Me ^cthat you may be justified?

⁹“Or do you have an arm like God,

And can you ^athunder with a voice like His?

¹⁰“^aAdorn yourself with exaltation and loftiness,

And clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.

¹¹“Pour out ^athe overflowings of your anger,

And look on everyone who is ^bproud, and make him low.

¹²“Look on everyone who is proud, and ^ahumble him,

And ^btread down the wicked ¹in their place.

¹³“^aHide them in the dust together;

Bind their faces in the hidden place.

¹⁴“Then I will also praise you,

That your own right hand can save you.

Behold the Behemoth

¹⁵“Behold now, ¹Behemoth, which ^aI made along with you;

It eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶“Behold now, its power in its loins

And its vigor in the muscles of its belly.

¹⁷“It hangs its tail like a cedar;

The sinews of its thighs are knit together.

¹⁸“Its bones are tubes of bronze;

Its ¹limbs are like bars of iron.

¹⁹“It is the ^afirst of the ways of God;

Let its ^bMaker bring near its sword.

²⁰“Surely the mountains ^abring it food,

And all the beasts of the field ^bplay there.

²¹“Under the lotus plants it lies down,

In the hidden place of the reeds and the marsh.

²²“The lotus plants cover it with ¹shade;

The willows of the brook surround it.

²³“If a river oppresses, it is not alarmed;

It is secure, though the ^aJordan bursts forth to its mouth.

²⁴“Can anyone capture it before its eyes,

With snares can anyone pierce its nose?

CHAPTER 41

Can You Draw Out Leviathan?

¹“¹Can you draw out ^2aLeviathan with a fishhook?

Or press down its tongue with a cord?

²“Can you ^aput a ¹rope in its nose

Or pierce its jaw with a ²hook?

³“Will it make many supplications to you,

Or will he speak to you soft words?

⁴“Will it cut a covenant with you?

Will you take it for a slave forever?

⁵“Will you play with it as with a bird,

Or will you bind it for your young women?

⁶“Will the ¹traders bargain over it?

Will they divide it among the merchants?

⁷“Can you fill its skin with harpoons,

Or its head with fishing spears?

⁸“Place your hand on it;

Remember the battle; ¹you will not do that again!

⁹“¹Behold, ²his expectation is a lie;

Will ³he be laid low even at the sight of it?

¹⁰“No one is so fierce that he dares to ^aarouse it;

Who then is he that can stand before Me?

¹¹“Who has ^1agiven to Me that I should repay him?

Whatever is ^bunder the whole heaven is Mine.

¹²“I will not keep silence concerning its limbs,

Or its mighty strength or its graceful frame.

¹³“Who can ¹strip off its ²outer armor?

Who can come with its doubled ³bridle?

¹⁴“Who can open the doors of its face?

Around its teeth there is dreadful terror.

¹⁵“Its ¹strong scales are its pride,

Shut up as with a tight seal.

¹⁶“One is so near to another

That no air can come between them.

¹⁷“They cling one to another;

They are interlocked and cannot be separated.

¹⁸“Its sneezes flash forth light,

And its eyes are like the ^aeyelids of the morning.

¹⁹“Out of its mouth go burning torches;

Sparks of fire ¹leap forth.

²⁰“Out of its nostrils smoke goes forth

As from a boiling pot and burning reeds.

²¹“Its breath kindles coals,

And a flame goes forth from its mouth.

²²“In its neck lodges strength,

And dismay leaps before it.

²³“The folds of its flesh cling together,

Hardened upon it and is not shaken.

²⁴“Its heart is as hard as a stone,

Even as hard as a lower millstone.

²⁵“When it raises itself up, the ¹mighty fear,

Because of the crashing they are ²bewildered.

²⁶“The sword that reaches it cannot avail,

Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

²⁷“It regards iron as straw,

Bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸“The ¹arrow cannot make it flee;

Slingstones are turned into stubble for it.

²⁹“Clubs are regarded as stubble;

It laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

³⁰“Its underparts are like sharp potsherds;

It ¹spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.

³¹“It makes the depths boil like a pot;

It makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

³²“Behind it, it makes a wake to shine;

One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

³³“^aThere is nothing upon the ¹dust like it,

One made without terror.

³⁴“¹It looks on everything that is high;

It is king over all the ^asons of pride.”