God Questions Job

6 Then 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.”

Chapter 42

Job’s Confession

1 Then Job answered the Lord and said,

2 “I know that aYou can do all things,

And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

3 ‘Who is this that ahides counsel without knowledge?’

“Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,

Things btoo wonderful for me, which I did not know.”

4 ‘Hear, now, and I will speak;

I will aask You, and You instruct me.’

5 “I have aheard of You by the hearing of the ear;

But now my beye sees You;

6 Therefore I retract,

And I repent in dust and ashes.”