Job 40–41

⁴⁰And the Lord said to Job:

²“Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?ⁿ

Anyone who argues with God must respond.”^*

Job’s Response to God

³Then Job answered the Lord:

⁴“See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?

I lay my hand on my mouth.^*

⁵I have spoken once, and I will not answer,

twice but will proceed no further.”^*

God’s Challenge to Job

⁶Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:^*

⁷“Gird up your loins like a man;

I will question you, and you declare to me.^*

⁸Will you even put me in the wrong?

Will you condemn me that you may be justified?^*

⁹Have you an arm like God,

and can you thunder with a voice like his?^*

¹⁰“Deck yourself with majesty and dignity;

clothe yourself with glory and splendor.^*

¹¹Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

and look on all who are proud and humble them.^*

¹²Look on all who are proud and bring them low;

tread down the wicked where they stand.^*

¹³Hide them all in the dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.^o

¹⁴Then I will also acknowledge to you

that your own right hand can give you victory.^*

¹⁵“Look at Behemoth,

which I made just as I made you;

it eats grass like an ox.^*

¹⁶Its strength is in its loins

and its power in the muscles of its belly.

¹⁷It makes its tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of its thighs are knit together.

¹⁸Its bones are tubes of bronze,

its limbs like bars of iron.

¹⁹“It is the first of the great acts of God;

only its Maker can approach it with the sword.^*

²⁰For the mountains yield food for it

where all the wild animals play.^*

²¹Under the lotus plants it lies,

in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.

²²The lotus trees cover it for shade;

the willows of the wadi surround it.^*

²³Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened;

it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.

²⁴Can one take it with hooks^p

or pierce its nose with a snare?^*

^41q“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook

or press down its tongue with a cord?^*

²Can you put a rope in its nose

or pierce its jaw with a hook?^*

³Will it make many supplications to you?

Will it speak soft words to you?

⁴Will it make a covenant with you

to be taken as your servant forever?

⁵Will you play with it as with a bird

or put it on a leash for your young women?

⁶Will traders bargain over it?

Will they divide it up among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill its skin with harpoons

or its head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay hands on it;

think of the battle; you will not do it again!

^9rAny hope of capturing it^s will be disappointed;

one is overwhelmed even at the sight of it.

¹⁰No one is so fierce as to dare to stir it up.

Who can stand before it?^t*

¹¹Who can confront it^u and be safe?^v

—under the whole heaven, who?^w*

¹²“I will not keep silent concerning its limbs

or its mighty strength or its splendid frame.

¹³Who can strip off its outer garment?

Who can penetrate its double coat of mail?^x

¹⁴Who can open the doors of its face?

There is terror all around its teeth.

¹⁵Its back^y is made of shields in rows,

shut up closely as with a seal.

¹⁶One is so near to another

that no air can come between them.

¹⁷They are joined one to another;

they clasp each other and cannot be separated.

¹⁸Its sneezes flash forth light,

and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.^*

¹⁹From its mouth go flaming torches;

sparks of fire leap out.

²⁰Out of its nostrils comes smoke,

as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

²¹Its breath kindles coals,

and a flame comes out of its mouth.

²²In its neck abides strength,

and terror dances before it.

²³The folds of its flesh cling together;

it is firmly cast and immovable.

²⁴Its heart is as hard as stone,

as hard as the lower millstone.

²⁵When it raises itself up the gods are afraid;

at the crashing they are beside themselves.

²⁶Though the sword reaches it, it does not avail,

nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

²⁷It counts iron as straw

and bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸The arrow cannot make it flee;

slingstones, for it, are turned to chaff.

²⁹Clubs are counted as chaff;

it laughs at the rattle of javelins.

³⁰Its underparts are like sharp potsherds;

it spreads itself like a threshing sledge on the mire.

³¹It makes the deep boil like a pot;

it makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

³²It leaves a shining wake behind it;

one would think the deep to be white-haired.

³³On earth it has no equal,

a creature without fear.^*

³⁴It surveys everything that is lofty;

it is king over all that are proud.”