Chapter 40

¹Moreover Yahweh answered Job,

²“Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty?

He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

³Then Job answered Yahweh,

⁴“Behold, 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;

Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

⁶Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,

⁷“Now brace yourself like a man.

I will question you, and you will answer me.

⁸Will you even annul my judgment?

Will you condemn me, that you may be justified?

⁹Or have you an arm like God?

Can you thunder with a voice like him?

¹⁰“Now deck yourself with excellency and dignity.

Array yourself with honor and majesty.

¹¹Pour forth the fury of your anger.

Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low.

¹²Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him.

Crush the wicked in their place.

¹³Hide them in the dust together.

Bind their faces in the hidden place.

¹⁴Then I will also admit to you

That your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵“See now, behemoth, which I made as well as you.

He eats grass as an ox.

¹⁶Look now, his strength is in his thighs,

His force is in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He moves his tail like a cedar:

The sinews of his thighs are knit together.

¹⁸His bones are like tubes of brass.

His limbs are like bars of iron.

¹⁹He is the chief of the ways of God.

He who made him gives him his sword.

²⁰Surely the mountains bring him forth food,

Where all the animals of the field do play.

²¹He lies under the lotus trees,

In the covert of the reed, and the marsh.

²²The lotuses cover him with their shade.

The willows of the brook surround him.

²³Behold, if a river overflows, he doesn’t tremble.

He is confident, though the Jordan swells even to his mouth.

²⁴Shall any take him when he is on the watch,

Or pierce through his nose with a snare?