Job 40
Lexham English Bible
40 Then[a] Yahweh answered Job and said,
2 “Shall a faultfinder contend with Shaddai?
Anyone who argues with God must answer it.”
Job Responds to Yahweh
3 So Job answered Yahweh and said,
4 “Look, I am insignificant.
What shall I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
5 Once I have spoken, and I will not answer;
even[b] twice, but[c] I will not proceed.”
Yahweh Challenges Job Again
6 Then[d] Yahweh answered Job from the storm, and he said,
7 “Prepare yourself for a difficult task like a man,[e]
and I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
Yahweh Interrogates Job Again
8 “Indeed, would you annul my justice?
Would you condemn me, so that you might be righteous?
9 Or do you have an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 Adorn[f] yourself with pride and dignity,
and clothe yourself with splendor.
11 Pour out the overflowing of your anger,
and look at all the proud, and humble them.
12 Look at all the proud, humble them,
and tread down the wicked where they stand.[g]
13 Hide them in the dust together;
bind their faces in the grave.
14 And I will also praise you,
that your own right hand can save you.
15 “Look, Behemoth,[h] which I have made just as I made you;
it eats grass like the ox.
16 Look, its strength is in its loins
and its power in the muscles of its stomach.
17 It keeps its tail straight like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound.
18 Its bones are tubes of copper,
its limbs like rods of iron.
19 “It is the first of God’s actions;
the one who made him furnishes it with his sword.[i]
20 Yes, the mountains yield produce for it,
and all wild animals[j] play there.
21 Under the lotus tree it lies,
in the hiding place of the reeds and in the marsh.
22 The lotus trees cover it with their shade;
the wadi’s[k] poplar trees surround it.
23 Look, if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened;
it is confident even though the Jordan rushes against its mouth.
24 Can anyone take it by its eyes?
Can he pierce its nose with a snare?
Footnotes
- Job 40:1 Hebrew “And”
- Job 40:5 Hebrew “And”
- Job 40:5 Or “and”
- Job 40:6 Or “And”
- Job 40:7 Literally “Gird up like a man your loins”
- Job 40:10 The particle sometimes translated “please” is present, but an almighty God or sovereign king does not say “please” when commanding his subjects
- Job 40:12 Literally “in place of them”
- Job 40:15 Some interpret as a hippopotamus
- Job 40:19 See NET; nearly all other English translations: “Only his Maker can draw the sword against him” (NJPS; compare NLT), or “only its Maker can approach it with the sword” (NRSV, NIV, ESV, HCSB, NASU)
- Job 40:20 Literally “all the animals of the field”
- Job 40:22 A seasonal stream that is often dry
Job 40
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
40 Moreover, the Lord said to Job,
2 Shall he who would find fault with the Almighty contend with Him? He who disputes with God, let him answer it.
3 Then Job replied to the Lord:
4 Behold, I am of small account and vile! What shall I answer You? I lay my hand upon my mouth.(A)
5 I have spoken once, but I will not reply again—indeed, twice [have I answered], but I will proceed no further.
6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, saying,
7 Gird up your loins now like a man; I will demand of you, and you answer Me.
8 Will you also annul (set aside and render void) My judgment? Will you condemn Me [your God], that you may [appear] righteous and justified?
9 Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His?
10 [Since you question the manner of the Almighty’s rule] deck yourself now with the excellency and dignity [of the Supreme Ruler, and yourself undertake the government of the world if you are so wise], and array yourself with honor and majesty.
11 Pour forth the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him;
12 Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low, and tread down the wicked where they stand [if you are so able, Job].
13 [Bury and] hide them all in the dust together; [and] shut them up [in the prison house of death].
14 [If you can do all this, Job, proving yourself of divine might] then will I [God] praise you also [and acknowledge that] your own right hand can save you.
15 Behold now the behemoth (the hippopotamus), which I created as I did you; he eats grass like an ox.
16 See now, his strength is in his loins, and his power is in the sinews of his belly.
17 He moves his tail like a cedar tree; the tendons of his thighs are twisted together [like a rope].
18 His bones are like tubes of bronze; his limbs [or ribs] are like bars of iron.
19 [The hippopotamus] is the first [in magnitude and power] of the works of God [in animal life]; [only] He Who made him provides him with his [swordlike tusks, or only God Who made him can bring near His sword to master him].
20 Surely the mountains bring him food, where all the wild animals play.
21 He lies under the lotus trees, in the covert of the reeds in the marsh.
22 The lotus trees cover him with their shade; the willows of the brook compass him about.
23 Behold, if a river is violent and overflows, he does not tremble; he is confident, though the Jordan [River] swells and rushes against his mouth.
24 Can any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare?
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