Job 38–41

Chapter 38

God Speaks Now to Job

¹Then the Lord ^aanswered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

²“Who is this that ^adarkens counsel

By words without knowledge?

³“Now ^agird up your loins like a man,

And ^bI will ask you, and you instruct Me!

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

Tell Me, if you ¹have understanding,

⁵Who set its ^ameasurements? Since you know.

Or who stretched the line on it?

⁶“On what ^awere its bases sunk?

Or who laid its cornerstone,

⁷When the morning stars sang together

And all the ^asons of God shouted for joy?

⁸“Or who ^aenclosed the sea with doors

When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;

⁹When I made a cloud its garment

And thick darkness its swaddling band,

¹⁰And I ^1aplaced boundaries on it

And set a bolt and doors,

¹¹And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;

And here shall your proud waves stop’?

God’s Mighty Power

¹²“Have you ¹ever in your life commanded the morning,

And caused the dawn to know its place,

¹³That it might take hold of ^athe ends of the earth,

And ^bthe wicked be shaken out of it?

¹⁴“It is changed like clay under the seal;

And they stand forth like a garment.

¹⁵“^aFrom the wicked their light is withheld,

And the ^buplifted arm is broken.

¹⁶“Have you entered into ^athe springs of the sea

Or walked ¹in the recesses of the deep?

¹⁷“Have the gates of death been revealed to you,

Or have you seen the gates of ^adeep darkness?

¹⁸“Have you understood the ¹expanse of ^athe earth?

Tell Me, if you know all this.

¹⁹“Where is the way to the dwelling of light?

And darkness, where is its place,

²⁰That you may take it to ^aits territory

And that you may discern the paths to its ¹home?

²¹“You know, for ^ayou were born then,

And the number of your days is great!

²²“Have you entered the storehouses ^aof the snow,

Or have you seen the storehouses of the ^bhail,

²³Which I have reserved for the time of distress,

For the day of war and battle?

²⁴“Where is the way that ^athe light is divided,

Or the east wind scattered on the earth?

²⁵“Who has cleft a channel for the flood,

Or a way for the thunderbolt,

²⁶To bring ^arain on a land without ¹people,

On a desert without a man in it,

²⁷To ^asatisfy the waste and desolate land

And to make the ¹seeds of grass to sprout?

²⁸“Has ^athe rain a father?

Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

²⁹“From whose womb has come the ^aice?

And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

³⁰“Water ¹becomes hard like stone,

And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

³¹“Can you bind the chains of the ^aPleiades,

Or loose the cords of Orion?

³²“Can you lead forth a ¹constellation in its season,

And guide the Bear with her ²satellites?

³³“Do you know the ^aordinances of the heavens,

Or fix their rule over the earth?

³⁴“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,

So that an ^aabundance of water will cover you?

³⁵“Can you ^asend forth lightnings that they may go

And say to you, ‘Here we are’?

³⁶“Who has ^aput wisdom in the innermost being

Or given ^bunderstanding to the ¹mind?

³⁷“Who can count the clouds by wisdom,

Or ^atip the water jars of the heavens,

³⁸When the dust hardens into a mass

And the clods stick together?

³⁹“Can you hunt the ^aprey for the lion,

Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

⁴⁰When they ^acrouch in their dens

And lie in wait in their lair?

⁴¹“Who prepares for ^athe raven its nourishment

When its young cry to God

And wander about without food?

Chapter 39

God Speaks of Nature and Its Beings

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

Do you observe 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 get rid of their labor pains.

⁴“Their offspring 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,

⁶To whom I gave ^athe wilderness for a home

And the salt land for his dwelling place?

⁷“He scorns 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 strength is great

And leave your labor to him?

¹²“Will you have faith in him that he will return your ¹grain

And gather it from your threshing floor?

¹³“The ostriches’ wings flap joyously

With the pinion and plumage of ¹love,

¹⁴For she abandons her eggs to the earth

And warms them in the dust,

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

Or that a wild beast may trample them.

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

Though her labor be in vain, she is ¹unconcerned;

¹⁷Because God has made her forget wisdom,

And has not given her a share of understanding.

¹⁸“When she lifts herself ¹on 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 majestic ^bsnorting is terrible.

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

He ^agoes out to meet the weapons.

²²“He laughs at fear 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 stand still at the voice 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 captains and the war cry.

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 mounts up

And makes ^ahis nest on high?

²⁸“On the cliff he dwells and lodges,

Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.

²⁹“From there he ^aspies 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: What Can I Say?

¹Then the Lord said to Job,

²“Will the faultfinder ^acontend with the Almighty?

Let him who ^breproves God answer it.”

³Then Job answered the Lord and said,

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

I ^alay my hand on my mouth.

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

Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”

God Questions Job

⁶Then the ^aLord answered Job out of the storm and said,

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

I will ^bask you, and you instruct Me.

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 eminence and dignity,

And clothe yourself with honor 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 ¹where they stand.

¹³“^aHide them in the dust together;

Bind ¹them in the hidden place.

¹⁴“Then I will also ¹confess to you,

That your own right hand can save you.

God’s Power Shown in Creatures

¹⁵“Behold now, ¹Behemoth, which ^aI made ²as well as you;

He eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶“Behold now, his strength in his loins

And his power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷“He bends his tail like a cedar;

The sinews of his thighs are knit together.

¹⁸“His bones are tubes of bronze;

His ¹limbs are like bars of iron.

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

Let his ^bmaker bring near his sword.

²⁰“Surely the mountains ^abring him food,

And all the beasts of the field ^bplay there.

²¹“Under the lotus plants he lies down,

In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.

²²“The lotus plants cover him with ¹shade;

The willows of the brook surround him.

²³“If a river ¹rages, he is not alarmed;

He is confident, though the ^aJordan rushes to his mouth.

²⁴“Can anyone capture him ¹when he is on watch,

With ²barbs can anyone pierce his nose?

Chapter 41

God’s Power Shown in Creatures

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

Or press down his tongue with a cord?

²“Can you ^aput a ¹rope in his nose

Or pierce his jaw with a ²hook?

³“Will he make many supplications to you,

Or will he speak to you soft words?

⁴“Will he make a covenant with you?

Will you take him for a servant forever?

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

Or will you bind him for your maidens?

⁶“Will the ¹traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him among the merchants?

⁷“Can you fill his skin with harpoons,

Or his head with fishing spears?

⁸“Lay your hand on him;

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

⁹“¹Behold, ²your expectation is false;

Will ³you be laid low even at the sight of him?

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

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 his limbs,

Or his mighty strength, or his ¹orderly frame.

¹³“Who can ¹strip off his outer armor?

Who can come within his double ²mail?

¹⁴“Who can open the doors of his face?

Around his teeth there is terror.

¹⁵“His ¹strong scales are his pride,

Shut up as with a tight seal.

¹⁶“One is so near to another

That no air can come between them.

¹⁷“They are joined one to another;

They clasp each other and cannot be separated.

¹⁸“His sneezes flash forth light,

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

¹⁹“Out of his mouth go burning torches;

Sparks of fire leap forth.

²⁰“Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth

As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

²¹“His breath kindles coals,

And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

²²“In his neck lodges strength,

And dismay leaps before him.

²³“The folds of his flesh are joined together,

Firm on him and immovable.

²⁴“His heart is as hard as a stone,

Even as hard as a lower millstone.

²⁵“When he raises himself up, the ¹mighty fear;

Because of the crashing they are bewildered.

²⁶“The sword that reaches him cannot avail,…