Job 38–41

The First Speech of the Lord

38The Lord spoke to Job out of a storm. He said,

²“Who do you think you are to disagree with my plans?

You do not know what you are talking about.

³Get ready to stand up for yourself.

I will ask you some questions.

Then I want you to answer me.

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

Tell me, if you know.

⁵Who measured it? I am sure you know!

Who stretched a measuring line across it?

⁶What was it built on?

Who laid its most important stone?

⁷When it happened, the morning stars sang together.

All of the angels shouted with joy.

⁸“Who created the ocean?

Who caused it to be born?

⁹I put clouds over it as if they were its clothes.

I wrapped it in thick darkness.

¹⁰I set limits for it.

I put its doors and metal bars in place.

¹¹I said, ‘You can come this far.

But you can’t come any farther.

Here is where your proud waves have to stop.’

¹²“Job, have you ever commanded the morning to come?

Have you ever shown the sun where to rise?

¹³The daylight takes the earth by its edges

as if it were a blanket.

Then it shakes sinful people out of it.

¹⁴The earth takes shape like clay under a seal.

Its features stand out

like the different parts of your clothes.

¹⁵Sinners would rather have darkness than light.

When the light comes, their power is broken.

¹⁶“Have you traveled to the springs at the bottom of the ocean?

Have you walked in its deepest parts?

¹⁷Have the gates of death been shown to you?

Have you seen the gates of darkness?

¹⁸Do you understand how big the earth is?

Tell me, if you know all of those things.

¹⁹“Where does light come from?

And where does darkness live?

²⁰Can you take them to their places?

Do you know the paths to their houses?

²¹I am sure you know! After all, you were already born!

You have lived so many years!

²²“Have you entered the places where the snow is kept?

Have you seen the storerooms for the hail?

²³I store up snow and hail for times of trouble.

I keep them for days of war and battle.

²⁴Where does lightning come from?

Where do the east winds that blow across the earth live?

²⁵Who tells the rain where it should fall?

Who makes paths for the thunderstorms?

²⁶They bring water to places where no one lives.

They water deserts that do not have anyone in them.

²⁷They satisfy the needs of dry and empty lands.

They make grass start growing there.

²⁸Does the rain have a father?

Who is the father of the drops of dew?

²⁹Does the ice have a mother?

Who is the mother of the frost from the heavens?

³⁰The waters become as hard as stone.

The surface of the ocean freezes over.

³¹“Can you tie up the beautiful Pleiades?

Can you untie the ropes that hold Orion together?

³²Can you bring out all of the stars in their seasons?

Can you lead out the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper?

³³Do you know the laws that govern the heavens?

Can you rule over the earth the way I do?

³⁴“Can you give orders to the clouds?

Can you make them pour rain down on you?

³⁵Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?

Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?

³⁶Who put wisdom in people’s hearts?

Who gave understanding to their minds?

³⁷Who is wise enough to count the clouds?

Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens?

³⁸I tip them over when the ground becomes hard.

I do it when the dirt sticks together.

³⁹“Do you hunt for food for mother lions?

Do you satisfy the hunger of their cubs?

⁴⁰Some of them lie low in their dens.

Others lie waiting in the bushes.

⁴¹Who provides food for ravens

when their babies cry out to me?

They wander around because they do not have anything to eat.

39“Job, do you know when mountain goats have their babies?

Do you watch when female deer give birth?

²Do you count the months until the animals have their babies?

Do you know the time when they give birth?

³They bend their back legs and have their babies.

Then their labor pains stop.

⁴Their little ones grow strong and healthy in the wild.

They leave and do not come home again.

⁵“Who let the wild donkeys go free?

Who untied their ropes?

⁶I gave them the dry and empty land as their home.

I gave them salt flats to live in.

⁷They laugh at all of the noise in town.

They do not hear the shouts of the donkey drivers.

⁸They wander over the hills to look for grass.

They search for anything green to eat.

⁹“Job, will wild oxen agree to serve you?

Will they stay by your feed box at night?

¹⁰Can you keep them in straight rows with harnesses?

Will they plow the valleys behind you?

¹¹Will you depend on them for their great strength?

Will you let them do your heavy work?

¹²Can you trust them to bring in your grain?

Will they take it to your threshing floor?

¹³“The wings of ostriches flap with joy.

But they can’t compare with the wings and feathers of storks.

¹⁴Ostriches lay their eggs on the ground.

They let them get warm in the sand.

¹⁵They do not know that something might step on them.

A wild animal might walk all over them.

¹⁶Ostriches are mean to their little ones.

They treat them as if they did not belong to them.

They do not care that their work was useless.

¹⁷I did not provide ostriches with wisdom.

I did not give them good sense.

¹⁸But when they spread their feathers to run,

they laugh at a horse and its rider.

¹⁹“Job, do you give horses their strength?

Do you put flowing manes on their necks?

²⁰Do you make them jump like locusts?

They terrify others with their proud snorting.

²¹They paw the ground wildly.

They are filled with joy.

They charge at their enemies.

²²They laugh at fear. They are not afraid of anything.

They do not run away from swords.

²³Many arrows rattle at their sides.

Flashing spears and javelins are also there.

²⁴They are so stirred up that they eat up the ground.

They can’t stand still when trumpets are blown.

²⁵When they hear the trumpets they snort, ‘Aha!’

They catch the smells of battle far away.

They hear the shouts of commanders and the battle cries.

²⁶“Job, are you wise enough to teach hawks where to fly?

They spread their wings and fly toward the south.

²⁷Do you command eagles to fly so high?

They build their nests as high as they can.

²⁸They live on cliffs and stay there at night.

High up on the rocks they think they are safe.

²⁹From there they look for their food.

They can see it from far away.

³⁰Their little ones like to eat blood.

Eagles gather where they see dead bodies.”

40The Lord continued,

²“I am the Mighty One.

Will the man who argues with me correct me?

Let him who brings charges against me answer me!”

Job’s Reply

³Job replied to the Lord,

⁴“I’m not worthy. How can I reply to you?

I’m putting my hand over my mouth. I’ll stop talking.

⁵I spoke once. But I really don’t have any answer.

I spoke twice. But I won’t say anything else.”

The Second Speech of the Lord

⁶Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said,

⁷“Get ready to stand up for yourself.

I will ask you some more questions.

Then I want you to answer me.

⁸“Would you dare to claim that I am not being fair?

Would you judge me in order to make yourself seem right?

⁹Is your arm as powerful as mine is?

Can your voice thunder as mine does?

¹⁰Then put on glory and beauty as if they were your clothes.

Also put honor and majesty on.

¹¹Let loose your great anger.

Look at those who are proud and bring them low.

¹²Look at proud people and bring them down.

Crush those who are evil right where they are.

¹³Bury their bodies in the dust together.

Cover their faces in the grave.

¹⁴Then I myself will admit to you

that your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵“Look at the behemoth. It is a huge animal.

I made both of you.

It eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶Look at the strength it has in its hips!

What power it has in the muscles of its stomach!

¹⁷Its tail sways back and forth like a cedar tree.

The tendons of its thighs are close together.

¹⁸Its bones are like tubes made out of bronze.

Its legs are like rods made out of iron.

¹⁹It ranks first among my works.

I made it. I can approach it with my sword.

²⁰The hills produce food for it.

All of the other wild animals play near it.

²¹It lies under lotus plants.

It hides in tall grass in the swamps.

²²The lotus plants hide it in their shade.

Poplar trees near streams surround it.

²³It is not afraid when the river roars.

It is secure even when the Jordan River rushes against its mouth.

²⁴Can anyone capture it by its eyes?

Can anyone trap it and poke a hole through its nose?

41“Job, can you pull the leviathan out of the sea with a fish hook?

Can you tie down its tongue with a rope?

²Can you put a rope through its nose?

Can you stick a hook through its jaw?

³Will it keep begging you for mercy?

Will it speak gently to you?

⁴Will it make an agreement with you?

Can you make it your slave for life?

⁵Can you make a pet out of it like a bird?

Can you put it on a leash for your young women?

⁶Will traders offer you something for it?

Will they divide it up among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill its body with harpoons?

Can you throw fishing spears into its head?

⁸If you touch it, it will fight you.

Then you will remember never to touch it again!

⁹No one can possibly control the leviathan.

Just looking at it will terrify you.

¹⁰No one dares to wake it up.

So who can possibly stand up to me?

¹¹Who has a claim against me that I must pay?

Everything on earth belongs to me.

¹²“Now I will speak about the leviathan’s legs.

I will talk about its strength and its graceful body.

¹³Who can strip off its outer coat?

Who would try to put a bridle on it?

¹⁴Who dares to open its jaws?

Its mouth is filled with terrifying teeth.

¹⁵Its back has rows of shields

that are close together.

¹⁶Each one is so close to the next one

that not even air can pass between them.

¹⁷They are joined tightly to one another.

They stick together and can’t be forced apart.

¹⁸The leviathan’s snorting throws out flashes of light.

Its eyes shine like the first light of day.

¹⁹Fire seems to spray out of its mouth.

Sparks of fire shoot out.

²⁰Smoke pours out of its nose.

It is like smoke from a boiling pot over burning grass.

²¹Its breath sets coals on fire.

Flames fly out of its…