Job 40
Living Bible
40 The Lord went on:
2 “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? Or will you yield? Do you—God’s critic—have the answers?”
3 Then Job replied to God:
4 “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I lay my hand upon my mouth in silence. 5 I have said too much already.”
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job again from the whirlwind:
7 “Stand up like a man and brace yourself for battle. Let me ask you a question, and give me the answer. 8 Are you going to discredit my justice and condemn me so that you can say you are right? 9 Are you as strong as God, and can you shout as loudly as he? 10 All right then, put on your robes of state, your majesty and splendor. 11 Give vent to your anger. Let it overflow against the proud. 12 Humiliate the haughty with a glance; tread down the wicked where they stand. 13 Knock them into the dust, stone-faced in death. 14 If you can do that, then I’ll agree with you that your own strength can save you.
15 “Take a look at the hippopotamus![a] I made him, too, just as I made you! He eats grass like an ox. 16 See his powerful loins and the muscles of his belly. 17 His tail is as straight as a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit together. 18 His vertebrae lie straight as a tube of brass. His ribs are like iron bars. 19 How ferocious he is among all of God’s creation, so let whoever hopes to master him bring a sharp sword! 20 The mountains offer their best food to him—the other wild animals on which he preys. 21 He lies down under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds, 22 covered by their shade among the willows there beside the stream. 23 He is not disturbed by raging rivers, not even when the swelling Jordan rushes down upon him. 24 No one can catch him off guard or put a ring in his nose and lead him away.
Footnotes
- Job 40:15 the hippopotamus, literally, “behemoth.”
Job 40
The Message
40 1-2 God then confronted Job directly:
“Now what do you have to say for yourself?
Are you going to haul me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?”
Job Answers God
I’m Ready to Shut Up and Listen
3-5 Job answered:
“I’m speechless, in awe—words fail me.
I should never have opened my mouth!
I’ve talked too much, way too much.
I’m ready to shut up and listen.”
God’s Second Set of Questions
I Want Straight Answers
6-7 God addressed Job next from the eye of the storm, and this is what he said:
“I have some more questions for you,
and I want straight answers.
8-14 “Do you presume to tell me what I’m doing wrong?
Are you calling me a sinner so you can be a saint?
Do you have an arm like my arm?
Can you shout in thunder the way I can?
Go ahead, show your stuff.
Let’s see what you’re made of, what you can do.
Unleash your outrage.
Target the arrogant and lay them flat.
Target the arrogant and bring them to their knees.
Stop the wicked in their tracks—make mincemeat of them!
Dig a mass grave and dump them in it—
faceless corpses in an unmarked grave.
I’ll gladly step aside and hand things over to you—
you can surely save yourself with no help from me!
15-24 “Look at the land beast, Behemoth. I created him as well as you.
Grazing on grass, docile as a cow—
Just look at the strength of his back,
the powerful muscles of his belly.
His tail sways like a cedar in the wind;
his huge legs are like beech trees.
His skeleton is made of steel,
every bone in his body hard as steel.
Most magnificent of all my creatures,
but I still lead him around like a lamb!
The grass-covered hills serve him meals,
while field mice frolic in his shadow.
He takes afternoon naps under shade trees,
cools himself in the reedy swamps,
Lazily cool in the leafy shadows
as the breeze moves through the willows.
And when the river rages he doesn’t budge,
stolid and unperturbed even when the Jordan goes wild.
But you’d never want him for a pet—
you’d never be able to housebreak him!”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson