God’s Challenge to Job

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

7 “Now g 1prepare 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?

9 Have you an arm like God?

Or can you thunder with ja voice like His?

10 kThen adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,

And array yourself with glory and beauty.

11 Disperse the rage of your wrath;

Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him.

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

Tread down the wicked in their place.

13 Hide them in the dust together,

Bind their faces in hidden darkness.

14 Then 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.

16 See now, his strength is in his hips,

And his power is in his stomach muscles.

17 He moves his tail like a cedar;

The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.

18 His bones are like beams of bronze,

His ribs like bars of iron.

19 He is the first of the mways of God;

Only He who made him can bring near His sword.

20 Surely the mountains nyield food for him,

And all the beasts of the field play there.

21 He lies under the lotus trees,

In a covert of reeds and marsh.

22 The lotus trees cover him with their shade;

The willows by the brook surround him.

23 Indeed the river may rage,

Yet he is not disturbed;

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

24 Though he takes it in his eyes,

Or one pierces his nose with a snare.