Job 39–41

39“Do you know the time when the wild ^amountain goats bear young?

Or can you mark when ^bthe deer gives birth?

²Can you number the months that they fulfill?

Or do you know the time when they bear young?

³They bow down,

They bring forth their young,

They deliver their ¹offspring.

⁴Their young ones are healthy,

They grow strong with grain;

They depart and do not return to them.

⁵“Who set the wild donkey free?

Who loosed the bonds of the ²onager,

^6cWhose home I have made the wilderness,

And the ³barren land his dwelling?

⁷He scorns the tumult of the city;

He does not heed the shouts of the driver.

⁸The range of the mountains is his pasture,

And he searches after ^devery green thing.

⁹“Will the ^ewild ox be willing to serve you?

Will he bed by your manger?

¹⁰Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes?

Or will he plow the valleys behind you?

¹¹Will you trust him because his strength is great?

Or will you leave your labor to him?

¹²Will you trust him to bring home your ⁴grain,

And gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,

But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s?

¹⁴For she leaves her eggs on the ground,

And warms them in the dust;

¹⁵She forgets that a foot may crush them,

Or that a wild beast may break them.

¹⁶She ^ftreats her young harshly, as though they were not hers;

Her labor is in vain, without ⁵concern,

¹⁷Because God deprived her of wisdom,

And did not ^gendow her with understanding.

¹⁸When she lifts herself on high,

She scorns the horse and its rider.

¹⁹“Have you given the horse strength?

Have you clothed his neck with ⁶thunder?

²⁰Can you ⁷frighten him like a locust?

His majestic snorting strikes terror.

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

^hHe gallops into the clash of arms.

²²He mocks at fear, and is not frightened;

Nor does he turn back from the sword.

²³The quiver rattles against him,

The glittering spear and javelin.

²⁴He devours the distance with fierceness and rage;

Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.

²⁵At the blast of the trumpet he says, ‘Aha!’

He smells the battle from afar,

The thunder of captains and shouting.

²⁶“Does the hawk fly by your wisdom,

And spread its wings toward the south?

²⁷Does the ⁱeagle mount up at your command,

And ^jmake its nest on high?

²⁸On the rock it dwells and resides,

On the crag of the rock and the stronghold.

²⁹From there it spies out the prey;

Its eyes observe from afar.

³⁰Its young ones suck up blood;

And ^kwhere the slain are, there it is.”

40Moreover the Lord ^aanswered Job, and said:

²“Shall ^bthe one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?

He who ^crebukes God, let him answer it.”

Job’s Response to God

³Then Job answered the Lord and said:

⁴“Behold, ^dI am vile;

What shall I answer You?

^eI lay my hand over my mouth.

⁵Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;

Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

God’s Challenge to Job

^6fThen the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:

⁷“Now ^g1prepare yourself like a man;

^hI will question you, and you shall answer Me:

⁸“Would ⁱyou indeed ²annul My judgment?

Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?

⁹Have you an arm like God?

Or can you thunder with ^ja voice like His?

^10kThen adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,

And array yourself with glory and beauty.

¹¹Disperse the rage of your wrath;

Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him.

¹²Look on everyone who is ^lproud, and bring him low;

Tread down the wicked in their place.

¹³Hide them in the dust together,

Bind their faces in hidden darkness.

¹⁴Then I will also confess to you

That your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵“Look now at the ³behemoth, which I made along with you;

He eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶See now, his strength is in his hips,

And his power is in his stomach muscles.

¹⁷He moves his tail like a cedar;

The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.

¹⁸His bones are like beams of bronze,

His ribs like bars of iron.

¹⁹He is the first of the ^mways of God;

Only He who made him can bring near His sword.

²⁰Surely the mountains ⁿyield food for him,

And all the beasts of the field play there.

²¹He lies under the lotus trees,

In a covert of reeds and marsh.

²²The lotus trees cover him with their shade;

The willows by the brook surround him.

²³Indeed the river may rage,

Yet he is not disturbed;

He is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth,

²⁴Though he takes it in his eyes,

Or one pierces his nose with a snare.

41“Can you draw out ^aLeviathan ¹with a hook,

Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?

²Can you ^bput a reed through his nose,

Or pierce his jaw with a ²hook?

³Will he make many supplications to you?

Will he speak softly to you?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you?

Will you take him as a servant forever?

⁵Will you play with him as with a bird,

Or will you leash him for your maidens?

⁶Will your companions ³make a banquet of him?

Will they apportion him among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill his skin with harpoons,

Or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay your hand on him;

Remember the battle—

Never do it again!

⁹Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false;

Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him?

¹⁰No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up.

Who then is able to stand against Me?

^11cWho has preceded Me, that I should pay him?

^dEverything under heaven is Mine.

¹²“I will not ⁴conceal his limbs,

His mighty power, or his graceful proportions.

¹³Who can ⁵remove his outer coat?

Who can approach him with a double bridle?

¹⁴Who can open the doors of his face,

With his terrible teeth all around?

¹⁵His rows of ⁶scales are his pride,

Shut up tightly as with a seal;

¹⁶One is so near another

That no air can come between them;

¹⁷They are joined one to another,

They stick together and cannot be parted.

¹⁸His sneezings flash forth light,

And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

¹⁹Out of his mouth go burning lights;

Sparks of fire shoot out.

²⁰Smoke goes out of his nostrils,

As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

²¹His breath kindles coals,

And a flame goes out of his mouth.

²²Strength dwells in his neck,

And ⁷sorrow dances before him.

²³The folds of his flesh are joined together;

They are firm on him and cannot be moved.

²⁴His heart is as hard as stone,

Even as hard as the lower millstone.

²⁵When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;

Because of his crashings they ⁸are beside themselves.

²⁶Though the sword reaches him, it cannot avail;

Nor does spear, dart, or javelin.

²⁷He regards iron as straw,

And bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸The arrow cannot make him flee;

Slingstones become like stubble to him.

²⁹Darts are regarded as straw;

He laughs at the threat of javelins.

³⁰His undersides are like sharp potsherds;

He spreads pointed marks in the mire.

³¹He makes the deep boil like a pot;

He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

³²He leaves a shining wake behind him;

One would think the deep had white hair.

³³On earth there is nothing like him,

Which is made without fear.

³⁴He beholds every high thing;

He is king over all the children of pride.”