Job 38–41

The Lord Questions Job

38Then the Lord answered Job from the storm. He said:

²“Who is this that makes my purpose unclear

by saying things that are not true?

³Be strong like a man!

I will ask you questions,

and you must answer me.

⁴Where were you when I made the earth’s foundation?

Tell me, if you understand.

⁵Who marked off how big it should be? Surely you know!

Who stretched a ruler across it?

⁶What were the earth’s foundations set on,

or who put its cornerstone in place

⁷while the morning stars sang together

and all the angels shouted with joy?

⁸“Who shut the doors to keep the sea in

when it broke through and was born,

⁹when I made the clouds like a coat for the sea

and wrapped it in dark clouds,

¹⁰when I put limits on the sea

and put its doors and bars in place,

¹¹when I said to the sea, ‘You may come this far, but no farther;

this is where your proud waves must stop’?

¹²“Have you ever ordered the morning to begin,

or shown the dawn where its place was

¹³in order to take hold of the earth by its edges

and shake evil people out of it?

¹⁴At dawn the earth changes like clay being pressed by a seal;

the hills and valleys stand out like folds in a coat.

¹⁵Light is not given to evil people;

their arm is raised to do harm, but it is broken.

¹⁶“Have you ever gone to where the sea begins

or walked in the valleys under the sea?

¹⁷Have the gates of death been opened to you?

Have you seen the gates of the deep darkness?

¹⁸Do you understand how wide the earth is?

Tell me, if you know all these things.

¹⁹“What is the path to light’s home,

and where does darkness live?

²⁰Can you take them to their places?

Do you know the way to their homes?

²¹Surely you know, if you were already born when all this happened!

Have you lived that many years?

²²“Have you ever gone into the storehouse of the snow

or seen the storehouses for hail,

²³which I save for times of trouble,

for days of war and battle?

²⁴Where is the place from which light comes?

Where is the place from which the east winds blow over the earth?

²⁵Who cuts a waterway for the heavy rains

and sets a path for the thunderstorm?

²⁶Who waters the land where no one lives,

the desert that has no one in it?

²⁷Who sends rain to satisfy the empty land

so the grass begins to grow?

²⁸Does the rain have a father?

Who is father to the drops of dew?

²⁹Who is the mother of the ice?

Who gives birth to the frost from the sky

³⁰when the water becomes hard as stone,

and even the surface of the ocean is frozen?

³¹“Can you tie up the stars of the Pleiades

or loosen the ropes of the stars in Orion?

³²Can you bring out the stars on time

or lead out the stars of the Bear with its cubs?

³³Do you know the laws of the sky

and understand their rule over the earth?

³⁴“Can you shout an order to the clouds

and cover yourself with a flood of water?

³⁵Can you send lightning bolts on their way?

Do they come to you and say, ‘Here we are’?

³⁶Who put wisdom inside the mind

or understanding in the heart?

³⁷Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?

Who can pour water from the jars of the sky

³⁸when the dust becomes hard

and the clumps of dirt stick together?

³⁹“Do you hunt food for the female lion

to satisfy the hunger of the young lions

⁴⁰while they lie in their dens

or hide in the bushes waiting to attack?

⁴¹Who gives food to the birds

when their young cry out to God

and wander about without food?

39“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?

Do you watch when the deer gives birth to her fawn?

²Do you count the months until they give birth

and know the right time for them to give birth?

³They lie down, their young are born,

and then the pain of giving birth is over.

⁴Their young ones grow big and strong in the wild country.

Then they leave their homes and do not return.

⁵“Who let the wild donkey go free?

Who untied its ropes?

⁶I am the one who gave the donkey the desert as its home;

I gave it the desert lands as a place to live.

⁷The wild donkey laughs at the confusion in the city,

and it does not hear the drivers shout.

⁸It roams the hills looking for pasture,

looking for anything green to eat.

⁹“Will the wild ox agree to serve you

and stay by your feeding box at night?

¹⁰Can you hold it to the plowed row with a harness

so it will plow the valleys for you?

¹¹Will you depend on the wild ox for its great strength

and leave your heavy work for it to do?

¹²Can you trust the ox to bring in your grain

and gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³“The wings of the ostrich flap happily,

but they are not like the feathers of the stork.

¹⁴The ostrich lays its eggs on the ground

and lets them warm in the sand.

¹⁵It does not stop to think that a foot might step on them and crush them;

it does not care that some animal might walk on them.

¹⁶The ostrich is cruel to its young, as if they were not even its own.

It does not care that its work is for nothing,

¹⁷because God did not give the ostrich wisdom;

God did not give it a share of good sense.

¹⁸But when the ostrich gets up to run, it is so fast

that it laughs at the horse and its rider.

¹⁹“Job, are you the one who gives the horse its strength

or puts a flowing mane on its neck?

²⁰Do you make the horse jump like a locust?

It scares people with its proud snorting.

²¹It paws wildly, enjoying its strength,

and charges into battle.

²²It laughs at fear and is afraid of nothing;

it does not run away from the sword.

²³The bag of arrows rattles against the horse’s side,

along with the flashing spears and swords.

²⁴With great excitement, the horse races over the ground;

and it cannot stand still when it hears the trumpet.

²⁵When the trumpet blows, the horse snorts, ‘Aha!’

It smells the battle from far away;

it hears the shouts of commanders and the battle cry.

²⁶“Is it through your wisdom that the hawk flies

and spreads its wings toward the south?

²⁷Are you the one that commands the eagle to fly

and build its nest so high?

²⁸It lives on a high cliff and stays there at night;

the rocky peak is its protected place.

²⁹From there it looks for its food;

its eyes can see it from far away.

³⁰Its young eat blood,

and where there is something dead, the eagle is there.”

40The Lord said to Job:

²“Will the person who argues with the Almighty correct him?

Let the person who accuses God answer him.”

³Then Job answered the Lord:

⁴“I am not worthy; I cannot answer you anything,

so I will put my hand over my mouth.

⁵I spoke one time, but I will not answer again;

I even spoke two times, but I will say nothing more.”

⁶Then the Lord spoke to Job from the storm:

⁷“Be strong, like a man!

I will ask you questions,

and you must answer me.

⁸Would you say that I am unfair?

Would you blame me to make yourself look right?

⁹Are you as strong as God?

Can your voice thunder like his?

¹⁰If so, then decorate yourself with glory and beauty;

dress in honor and greatness as if they were clothing.

¹¹Let your great anger punish;

look at the proud and bring them down.

¹²Look at the proud and make them humble.

Crush the wicked wherever they are.

¹³Bury them all in the dirt together;

cover their faces in the grave.

¹⁴If you can do that, then I myself will praise you,

because you are strong enough to save yourself.

¹⁵“Look at Behemoth, ⁿ

which I made just as I made you.

It eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶Look at the strength it has in its body;

the muscles of its stomach are powerful.

¹⁷Its tail is like a cedar tree;

the muscles of its thighs are woven together.

¹⁸Its bones are like tubes of bronze;

its legs are like bars of iron.

¹⁹It is one of the first of God’s works,

but its Maker can destroy it.

²⁰The hills, where the wild animals play,

provide food for it.

²¹It lies under the lotus plants,

hidden by the tall grass in the swamp.

²²The lotus plants hide it in their shadow;

the poplar trees by the streams surround it.

²³If the river floods, it will not be afraid;

it is safe even if the Jordan River rushes to its mouth.

²⁴Can anyone blind its eyes and capture it?

Can anyone put hooks in its nose?

41“Can you catch Leviathan ⁿ on a fish hook

or tie its tongue down with a rope?

²Can you put a cord through its nose

or a hook in its jaw?

³Will it keep begging you for mercy

and speak to you with gentle words?

⁴Will it make an agreement with you

and let you take it as your slave for life?

⁵Can you make a pet of Leviathan as you would a bird

or put it on a leash for your girls?

⁶Will traders try to bargain with you for it?

Will they divide it up among the merchants?

⁷Can you stick darts all over its skin

or fill its head with fishing spears?

⁸If you put one hand on it,

you will never forget the battle,

and you will never do it again!

⁹There is no hope of defeating it;

just seeing it overwhelms people.

¹⁰No one is brave enough to make it angry,

so who would be able to stand up against me?

¹¹No one has ever given me anything that I must pay back,

because everything under the sky belongs to me.

¹²“I will speak about Leviathan’s arms and legs,

its great strength and well-formed body.

¹³No one can tear off its outer hide

or poke through its double armor.

¹⁴No one can force open its great jaws;

they are filled with frightening teeth.

¹⁵It has rows of shields on its back

that are tightly sealed together.

¹⁶Each shield is so close to the next one

that no air can go between them.

¹⁷They are joined strongly to one another;

they hold on to each other and cannot be separated.

¹⁸When it snorts, flashes of light are thrown out,

and its eyes look like the light at dawn.

¹⁹Flames blaze from its mouth;

sparks of fire shoot out.

²⁰Smoke pours out of its nose,

as if coming from a large pot over a hot fire.

²¹Its breath sets coals on fire,

and flames come out of its mouth.

²²There is great strength in its neck.

People are afraid and run away.

²³The folds of its skin are tightly joined;

they are set and cannot be moved.

²⁴Its chest is as hard as a rock,

even as hard as a grinding stone.

²⁵The powerful fear its terrible looks

and draw back in fear as it moves.

²⁶The sword that hits it does not hurt it,

nor the arrows, darts, and spears.

²⁷It treats iron as if it were straw

and bronze metal as if it were rotten wood.

²⁸It does not run away from arrows;

stones from slings are…