Job 40:6–41:8

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 forth the overflowings of your anger,

and look on every one that is proud, and abase him.

¹²Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low;

and tread down the wicked where they stand.

¹³Hide them all in the dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.

¹⁴Then will I also acknowledge to you,

that your own right hand can give you victory.

¹⁵“Behold, Behemoth,

which I made as I made you;

he eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶Behold, his strength in his loins,

and his power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

¹⁸His bones are tubes of bronze,

his limbs like bars of iron.

¹⁹“He is the first of the works of God;

let him who made him bring near his sword!

²⁰For the mountains yield food for him

where all the wild beasts play.

²¹Under the lotus plants he lies,

in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.

²²For his shade the lotus trees cover him;

the willows of the brook surround him.

²³Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;

he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

²⁴Can one take him with hooks,

or pierce his nose with a snare?

Chapter 41

¹“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook,

or press down his tongue with a cord?

²Can you put a rope in his nose,

or pierce his jaw with a hook?

³Will he make many supplications to you?

Will he speak to you soft words?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you

to take him for your servant for ever?

⁵Will you play with him as with a bird,

or will you put him on leash for your maidens?

⁶Will traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him up among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill his skin with harpoons,

or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay hands on him;

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