Job 40:1–41:8

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!