Job 39:1–41:34

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,

Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.

²⁷“He regards iron as straw,

Bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸“The ¹arrow cannot make him flee;

Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

²⁹“Clubs are regarded as stubble;

He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

³⁰“His underparts are like sharp potsherds;

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

³¹“He makes the depths boil like a pot;

He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

³²“Behind him he makes a wake to shine;

One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

³³“^aNothing on ¹earth is like him,

One made without fear.

³⁴“¹He looks on everything that is high;

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