Job 40:6–41:9

GOD’S SECOND SET OF QUESTIONS

I Want Straight Answers

^6–7God addressed Job next from the eye of the storm, and this is what he said:

“I have some more questions for you,

and I want straight answers.

^8–14“Do you presume to tell me what I’m doing wrong?

Are you calling me a sinner so you can be a saint?

Do you have an arm like my arm?

Can you shout in thunder the way I can?

Go ahead, show your stuff.

Let’s see what you’re made of, what you can do.

Unleash your outrage.

Target the arrogant and lay them flat.

Target the arrogant and bring them to their knees.

Stop the wicked in their tracks—make mincemeat of them!

Dig a mass grave and dump them in it—

faceless corpses in an unmarked grave.

I’ll gladly step aside and hand things over to you—

you can surely save yourself with no help from me!

^15–24“Look at the land beast, Behemoth. I created him as well as you.

Grazing on grass, docile as a cow—

Just look at the strength of his back,

the powerful muscles of his belly.

His tail sways like a cedar in the wind;

his huge legs are like beech trees.

His skeleton is made of steel,

every bone in his body hard as steel.

Most magnificent of all my creatures,

but I still lead him around like a lamb!

The grass-covered hills serve him meals,

while field mice frolic in his shadow.

He takes afternoon naps under shade trees,

cools himself in the reedy swamps,

Lazily cool in the leafy shadows

as the breeze moves through the willows.

And when the river rages he doesn’t budge,

stolid and unperturbed even when the Jordan goes wild.

But you’d never want him for a pet—

you’d never be able to housebreak him!”

I Run This Universe

^1–1141“Or can you pull in the sea beast, Leviathan, with a fly rod

and stuff him in your creel?

Can you lasso him with a rope,

or snag him with an anchor?

Will he beg you over and over for mercy,

or flatter you with flowery speech?

Will he apply for a job with you

to run errands and serve you the rest of your life?

Will you play with him as if he were a pet goldfish?

Will you make him the mascot of the neighborhood children?

Will you put him on display in the market

and have shoppers haggle over the price?

Could you shoot him full of arrows like a pin cushion,

or drive harpoons into his huge head?

If you so much as lay a hand on him,

you won’t live to tell the story.

What hope would you have with such a creature?

Why, one look at him would do you in!