39 Do you know when mountain goats give birth?
Have you watched the deer in labor?
Can you count the months they are pregnant[a]
so you can know the time they give birth?
They crouch down to give birth to their young;
they deliver their newborn.[b]
Their offspring are healthy and grow up in the open field.
They leave and do not return.[c]

Who set the wild donkey free?
Who released the swift donkey from its harness?
I made the desert(A) its home,
and the salty(B) wasteland its dwelling.
It scoffs at the noise of the village
and never hears the shouts of a driver.(C)
It roams the mountains for its pastureland,
searching for anything green.
Would the wild ox be willing to serve you?
Would it spend the night by your feeding trough?
10 Can you hold the wild ox(D) to a furrow by its harness?
Will it plow the valleys behind you?
11 Can you depend on it because its strength is great?
Would you leave it to do your hard work?
12 Can you trust the wild ox to harvest your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?

13 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but are her feathers and plumage like the stork’s?[d](E)
14 She abandons her eggs on the ground
and lets them be warmed in the sand.
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them
or that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own,
with no fear that her labor may have been in vain.
17 For God has deprived her of wisdom;
he has not endowed her with understanding.(F)
18 When she proudly[e] spreads her wings,
she laughs at the horse and its rider.

19 Do you give strength to the horse?
Do you adorn his neck with a mane?[f]
20 Do you make him leap like a locust?
His proud snorting fills one with terror.
21 He paws[g] in the valley and rejoices in his strength;
he charges into battle.[h]
22 He laughs at fear, since he is afraid of nothing;
he does not run from the sword.
23 A quiver rattles at his side,
along with a flashing spear and a javelin.
24 He charges ahead[i] with trembling rage;
he cannot stand still at the sound of the ram’s horn.
25 When the ram’s horn blasts, he snorts defiantly.[j]
He smells the battle from a distance;
he hears the officers’ shouts and the battle cry.

26 Does the hawk take flight by your understanding
and spread its wings to the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and make its nest(G) on high?
28 It lives on a cliff where it spends the night;
its stronghold is on a rocky crag.
29 From there it searches for prey;(H)
its eyes penetrate the distance.
30 Its brood gulps down blood,
and where the slain are, it is there.(I)

40 The Lord answered Job:

Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who argues with God give an answer.[k]

Then Job answered the Lord:

I am so insignificant. How can I answer you?(J)
I place my hand over my mouth.
I have spoken once, and I will not reply;
twice, but now I can add nothing.(K)

Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:(L)

Get ready to answer me like a man;
when I question(M) you, you will inform me.
Would you really challenge my justice?
Would you declare me guilty(N) to justify yourself?(O)
Do you have an arm like God’s?
Can you thunder with a voice like his?

10 Adorn yourself with majesty(P) and splendor,
and clothe yourself with honor and glory.
11 Pour out your raging anger;(Q)
look on every proud person and humiliate him.(R)
12 Look on every proud person and humble him;(S)
trample the wicked where they stand.[l]
13 Hide them together in the dust;
imprison them in the grave.[m]
14 Then I will confess to you
that your own right hand(T) can deliver you.(U)

15 Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you.
He eats grass like cattle.
16 Look at the strength of his back[n]
and the power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He stiffens his tail like a cedar tree;
the tendons of his thighs are woven firmly together.
18 His bones are bronze tubes;
his limbs are like iron rods.
19 He is the foremost of God’s works;(V)
only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
20 The hills yield food for him,
while all sorts of wild animals play there.
21 He lies under the lotus plants,
hiding in the protection[o] of marshy reeds.
22 Lotus plants cover him with their shade;
the willows by the brook surround him.
23 Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid;
he remains confident, even if the Jordan surges up to his mouth.
24 Can anyone capture him while he looks on,[p]
or pierce his nose with snares?

41 Can you pull in Leviathan(W) with a hook(X)
or tie his tongue down with a rope?
Can you put a cord[q] through his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?(Y)
Will he beg you for mercy
or speak softly to you?
Will he make a covenant with you
so that you can take him as a slave forever?(Z)
Can you play with him like a bird
or put him on a leash[r] for your girls?
Will traders bargain for him
or divide him among the merchants?
Can you fill his hide with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
Lay a[s] hand on him.
You will remember the battle
and never repeat it!
Any hope of capturing him proves false.
Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him?
10 No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan;(AA)
who then can stand against me?
11 Who confronted me, that I should repay him?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.(AB)

12 I cannot be silent about his limbs,
his power, and his graceful proportions.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering?
Who can penetrate his double layer of armor?[t](AC)
14 Who can open his jaws,[u]
surrounded by those terrifying teeth?
15 His pride is in his rows of scales,
closely sealed together.
16 One scale is so close to another[v]
that no air can pass between them.
17 They are joined to one another,
so closely connected[w] they cannot be separated.
18 His snorting[x] flashes with light,
while his eyes are like the rays[y] of dawn.
19 Flaming torches shoot from his mouth;
fiery sparks fly out!
20 Smoke billows from his nostrils(AD)
as from a boiling pot or burning reeds.
21 His breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames pour out of his mouth.
22 Strength resides in his neck,
and dismay dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together,
solid as metal[z] and immovable.
24 His heart is as hard as a rock,
as hard as a lower millstone!
25 When Leviathan rises, the mighty[aa] are terrified;
they withdraw because of his thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches him will have no effect,
nor will a spear, dart, or arrow.
27 He regards iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 No arrow can make him flee;
slingstones become like stubble to him.
29 A club is regarded as stubble,
and he laughs(AE) at the sound of a javelin.
30 His undersides are jagged potsherds,
spreading the mud like a threshing sledge.(AF)
31 He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron;
he makes the sea like an ointment jar.
32 He leaves a shining wake behind him;[ab]
one would think the deep had gray hair!
33 He has no equal on earth—
a creature devoid of fear!
34 He surveys everything that is haughty;
he is king over all the proud beasts.[ac]

Job Replies to the Lord

42 Then Job replied to the Lord:

I[ad] know that you can do anything
and no plan of yours can be thwarted.(AG)
You asked, “Who is this who conceals my counsel with ignorance?”(AH)
Surely I spoke about things I did not understand,
things too wondrous for me to[ae] know.(AI)
You said, “Listen now, and I will speak.
When I question(AJ) you, you will inform me.”
I had heard reports about you,
but now my eyes(AK) have seen you.
Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them;
I am dust and ashes.[af][ag]

After the Lord had finished speaking[ah] to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then my servant Job will pray for you.(AL) I will surely accept his prayer and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

God Restores Job

10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and doubled his previous possessions.(AM) 11 All his brothers, sisters, and former acquaintances(AN) came to him and dined with him in his house. They sympathized with him and comforted him concerning all the adversity the Lord had brought on him. Each one gave him a piece of silver[ai](AO) and a gold earring.(AP)

12 So the Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the first. He owned fourteen thousand sheep and goats, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named his first daughter Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch.(AQ) 15 No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance with their brothers.

16 Job lived 140 years after this and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 Then Job died, old and full of days.(AR)

Footnotes

  1. 39:2 Lit months they fulfill
  2. 39:3 Or they send away their labor pains
  3. 39:4 Lit return to them
  4. 39:13 Hb obscure
  5. 39:18 Hb obscure
  6. 39:19 Hb obscure
  7. 39:21 LXX, Syr; MT reads They dig
  8. 39:21 Lit he goes out to meet the weaponry
  9. 39:24 Lit He swallows the ground
  10. 39:25 Lit he says, “Aha!”
  11. 40:2 Lit God respond to it
  12. 40:12 Lit wicked in their place
  13. 40:13 Lit together; bind their faces in the hidden place
  14. 40:16 Or waist
  15. 40:21 Lit plants, in the hiding place
  16. 40:24 Lit capture it in its eyes
  17. 41:2 Lit reed
  18. 41:5 Lit or bind him
  19. 41:8 Lit your
  20. 41:13 LXX; MT reads double bridle
  21. 41:14 Lit open the doors of his face
  22. 41:16 Lit One by one they approach
  23. 41:17 Lit another; they cling together and
  24. 41:18 Or sneezing
  25. 41:18 Lit eyelids
  26. 41:23 Lit together, hard on him
  27. 41:25 Or the divine beings
  28. 41:32 Lit a path
  29. 41:34 Lit the children of pride
  30. 42:2 Alt Hb tradition reads You
  31. 42:3 Lit me, and I did not
  32. 42:6 LXX reads I despise myself and melt; I consider myself dust and ashes
  33. 42:6 Lit I reject and I relent, concerning dust and ashes
  34. 42:7 Lit speaking these words
  35. 42:11 Lit a qesitah; the value of this currency is unknown

The Call of Abram

12 The Lord said to Abram:

Go from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.(A)
I will make you into a great nation,(B)
I will bless you,(C)
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.(D)
I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,(E)
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed[a] through you.[b](F)

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.(G) He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem,(H) at the oak of Moreh. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring[c](I) I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there, and he called on the name of the Lord.(J) Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.

Abram in Egypt

10 There was a famine in the land,(K) so Abram went down to Egypt to stay there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live.(L) 13 Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household. 16 He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.

17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife, Sarai.(M) 18 So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had.

Footnotes

  1. 12:3 Or will find blessing
  2. 12:3 Or will bless themselves by you
  3. 12:7 Lit seed

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