Job 40
1 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 put my hand over my mouth in silence. 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, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. 8Are you going to discredit my justice and condemn me so you can say you are right? 9Are you as strong as God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? 10All right then, put on your robes of state, your majesty and splendor. 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 the mighty hippopotamus.[a] I made it, 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 straight as a cedar. The sinews of its thighs are tightly knit together. 18Its bones are tubes of bronze. Its limbs are bars of iron. 19It is a prime example of God's amazing handiwork. Only its Creator can threaten it. 20The mountains offer it their best food, where all the wild animals play. 21It lies down under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds. 22The lotus plants give it shade among the willows beside the stream. 23It is not disturbed by raging rivers, not even when the swelling Jordan rushes down upon it. 24No one can catch it off guard or put a ring in its nose and lead it away.
Footnotes:
Job 40:15 Hebrew at behemoth.
Job 41
The LORD's Challenge Continues
1"Can you catch a crocodile[a] with a hook or put a noose around its jaw? 2Can you tie it with a rope through the nose or pierce its jaw with a spike? 3Will it beg you for mercy or implore you for pity? 4Will it agree to work for you? Can you make it be your slave for life? 5Can you make it a pet like a bird, or give it to your little girls to play with? 6Will merchants try to buy it? Will they sell it in their shops? 7Will its hide be hurt by darts, or its head by a harpoon? 8If you lay a hand on it, you will never forget the battle that follows, and you will never try it again!
9"No, it is useless to try to capture it. The hunter who attempts it will be thrown down. 10And since no one dares to disturb the crocodile, who would dare to stand up to me? 11Who will confront me and remain safe[b]? Everything under heaven is mine.
12"I want to emphasize the tremendous strength in the crocodile's limbs and throughout its enormous frame. 13Who can strip off its hide, and who can penetrate its double layer of armor[c]? 14Who could pry open its jaws? For its teeth are terrible! 15The overlapping scales on its back make a shield. 16They are close together so no air can get between them. 17They lock together so nothing can penetrate them.
18"When it sneezes, it flashes light! Its eyes are like the red of dawn. 19Fire and sparks leap from its mouth. 20Smoke streams from its nostrils like steam from a boiling pot on a fire of dry rushes. 21Yes, its breath would kindle coals, for flames shoot from its mouth.
22"The tremendous strength in its neck strikes terror wherever it goes. 23Its flesh is hard and firm, not soft and fat. 24Its heart is as hard as rock, as hard as a millstone. 25When it rises, the mighty are afraid, gripped by terror. 26No sword can stop it, nor spear nor dart nor pointed shaft. 27To the crocodile, iron is nothing but straw, and bronze is rotten wood. 28Arrows cannot make it flee. Stones shot from a sling are as ineffective as straw. 29Clubs do no good, and it laughs at the swish of the javelins. 30Its belly is covered with scales as sharp as glass. They tear up the ground as it drags through the mud.
31"The crocodile makes the water boil with its commotion. It churns the depths. 32The water glistens in its wake. One would think the sea had turned white. 33There is nothing else so fearless anywhere on earth. 34Of all the creatures, it is the proudest. It is the king of beasts."
Footnotes:
Job 41:1 Hebrew Leviathan; also throughout the following passage.
Job 41:11 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads confront me that I must pay.
Job 41:13 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads its bridle.
Job 42
Job Responds to the LORD
1Then Job replied to the LORD:
2"I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. 3You ask, `Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?' It is I. And I was talking about things I did not understand, things far too wonderful for me.
4"You said, `Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.'
5"I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. 6I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance."
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