Job 40:1–24

Then the Lord said to Job,

²“Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?

You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?”

Job Responds to the Lord

³Then Job replied to the Lord,

⁴“I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers?

I will cover my mouth with my hand.

⁵I have said too much already.

I have nothing more to say.”

The Lord Challenges Job Again

⁶Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

⁷“Brace yourself like a man,

because I have some questions for you,

and you must answer them.

⁸“Will you discredit my justice

and condemn me just to prove you are right?

⁹Are you as strong as God?

Can you thunder with a voice like his?

¹⁰All right, put on your glory and splendor,

your honor and majesty.

¹¹Give vent to your anger.

Let it overflow against the proud.

¹²Humiliate the proud with a glance;

walk on the wicked where they stand.

¹³Bury them in the dust.

Imprison them in the world of the dead.

¹⁴Then even I would praise you,

for your own strength would save you.

¹⁵“Take a look at Behemoth,

which I made, just as I made you.

It eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶See its powerful loins

and the muscles of its belly.

¹⁷Its tail is as strong as a cedar.

The sinews of its thighs are knit tightly together.

¹⁸Its bones are tubes of bronze.

Its limbs are bars of iron.

¹⁹It is a prime example of God’s handiwork,

and only its Creator can threaten it.

²⁰The mountains offer it their best food,

where all the wild animals play.

²¹It lies under the lotus plants,

hidden by the reeds in the marsh.

²²The lotus plants give it shade

among the willows beside the stream.

²³It is not disturbed by the raging river,

not concerned when the swelling Jordan rushes around it.

²⁴No one can catch it off guard

or put a ring in its nose and lead it away.