Job 38-42
Tree of Life Version
Word out of the Whirlwind
38 Then Adonai answered Job out of the whirlwind.
He said:
2 “Who is this, who darkens counsel
with words without knowledge?
3 Now gird up your loins like a man;
I will question you,
and you will inform Me!
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
5 Who set its dimensions—if you know—
or who stretched a line over it?
6 On what were its foundations set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 when the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “And who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made a cloud its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling cloth,
10 when I prescribed my boundary for it,
and set bars and gates,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come, but no further;
here your majestic waves will stop.’
12 “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,
or caused dawn to know its place;
13 that it would take hold of the corners of the earth
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 It changes shape like clay under a seal—
they stand out like those of a garment.
15 And from the wicked their light is withheld,
and the upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you gone to the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the expanses of the earth?
If you know it all, declare it!
19 In what direction does light dwell,
and darkness, where is its place—
20 that you can take it to its borders,
and discern the paths to its home?
21 Surely you know, for you were born then;
and the number of your days is great!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of snow
or seen the storehouses of hail,
23 which I reserved for a time of distress,
for a day of battle and war?
24 In what direction is light distributed,
or the east wind scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the flood,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land,
a desert with no one in it,
27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,
and cause it to sprout grass?
28 Does the rain have a father,
or who has birthed the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost of heaven,
30 when the waters hide like stone,
and the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 “Can you bind the chains of Pleiades
or loosen the belt of Orion?
32 Do you bring out the constellations in their season
or guide the Bear with her cubs?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you set up dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with an abundance of water?
35 Can you send out lightning bolts, so they go?
Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who put wisdom in the secret place
or gave understanding to the mind?
37 Who can count the clouds by wisdom,
or tip over the water jars of heaven,
38 when dust hardens into a mass
and clods of earth stick together?
39 “Do you hunt prey for the lioness
or satisfy the hunger of young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in the thicket?
41 Who arranges provision for the raven,
when its young cry out to God,
and wander about for lack of food?
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe the calving doe?
2 Do you count the months they fulfill
and do you know the time when they give birth
3 when they kneel, bring forth their young,
and their labor pains end?
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the open field;
They leaveand never return to them.
5 “Who sent the wild donkey free?
Who released the bonds of the wild ass,
6 to whom I gave the Arabah as its home,
the salt land as its dwelling place?
7 It scorns the commotion in the town;
it does not hear the taskmaster’s shouts.
8 It explores the mountains as its pasture
and searches after every green thing.
9 “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
Will it spend the night at your manger?
10 Will you bind a wild ox to a furrow with his rope?
Will it plow valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on it for its great strength?
Will you leave your labor to it?
12 Can you trust it to bring in your seed
and gather it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyously,
but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork?
14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the soil,
15 and forgets that a foot may crush them,
that a wild beast may trample them.
16 She treats her young ones harshly, as if they were not hers;
She is not concerned that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of understanding.
18 When she lifts herself to flee
she laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
20 Do you cause him to leap like locust?
His majestic snorting is terrifying!
21 He paws in the valley
and exalting in his strength he charges into the fray.
22 He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
he does not recoil from the sword.
23 On him the quiver rattles;
the spear and javelin flash.
24 With quaking and excitement, he swallows up the ground.
He cannot stand still when the shofar sounds.
25 At the blast of the shofar, he says, ‘Aha!’
From a distance he smells battle,
the shout of the captains and the battle cry.
26 “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars,
spreading its wings toward the south?
27 Is it by your command that an eagle soars
and builds its nest high?
28 It dwells on a cliff
and spends the night there, on a rocky crag and stronghold.
29 From there it searches for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.
30 Its young ones suck up blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”
Insignificant Before God
40 Then Adonai answered Job, saying:
2 “Will the one who contends with Shaddai correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer!”
3 Then Job answered Adonai. He said:
4 “Indeed, I am unworthy—what can I reply to You?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
6 Then Adonai answered Job from the whirlwind:
7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you will inform Me!
8 “Would you really annul My judgment?
Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s
and can you thunder with a voice like His?
10 Then adorn yourself in majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself in splendor and honor.
11 Scatter the fury of your anger.
Look at every proud personand bring him low;
12 look at everyone who is proud and humble him;
tread down the wicked where they stand.
13 Hide them together in the dust
bind their faces in the hidden place.
14 Then I—even I will acknowledge to you,
that your own right hand can save you!
Behemoth and Leviathan
15 “Look now at Behemoth, which I made along with you.
He eats grass like an ox.
16 Now look at his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He stiffens his tail like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze;
His limbs like rods of iron.
19 He is first among the ways of God,
Let his Maker draw near with His sword!
20 For the mountains bring him food,
and all the wild animals play there.
21 Under the lotus plants he lies down,
in the secrecy of the reeds and marsh.
22 The lotuses conceal him in their shade;
the willows of the brook surround him.
23 If the river rages, he is not alarmed.
He is secure, even though the Jordan surges against his mouth.
24 Can anyone capture it by its eyes,
or pierce his nose with hooks?
25 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook,[a]
or tie down his tongue with a cord?
26 Can you put a reed rope in his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
27 Will he make many supplications to you,
or speak softly to you?
28 Will he make a covenant with you,
so you can take him as a slave forever?
29 Can you play with him like a bird,
or put him on a leash for your girls?
30 Will traders barter for him?
Will they divide him among the merchants?
31 Can you fill his hide with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
32 If you lay your hands on him—
you will remember the battle and never do it again!
41 “See, his hope is wrong,
he is laid low, even the sight of him.
2 Is he not fierce when he is roused?
Who then is able to stand before Me?
3 Who has confronted Me that I should repay?[b]
Everything under heaven belongs to Me.
4 “I will not keep silent about his limbs,
or his might or the grace of his arrangement.
5 Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who can penetrate his double armor?
6 Who can open the doors of his face,
ringed with fearsome teeth?
7 His rows of shields are his pride,
shut up closely as with tight seal;
8 each so close to the next,
that no air can pass between.
9 They are joined one to another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
10 “He sneezes out flashes of light;
his eyes are like the eyelids of dawn.
11 Out of his mouth go flames,
sparks of fire shoot out.
12 Smoke pours from his nostrils,
as a boiling pot over burning reeds.
13 His breath sets coals ablaze
and flames dart from his mouth.
14 “Strength resides in his neck;
dismay runs before him.
15 The folds of his flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm on him, immovable.
16 His heart is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.
17 “When he rises up, the mighty are afraid;
at his crashing they retreat.
18 A sword that reaches him has no effect—
nor with a spear, dart, or javelin.
19 He regards iron as straw,
bronze as rotten wood.
20 Arrows do not make him flee;
sling stones become like chaff to him.
21 A club is regarded as stubble;
he laughs at the rattling of a lance.
22 “His undersides are jagged potsherds,
leaving a trail like a threshing sledge in mud.
23 He makes the deep boil like a cauldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
24 He leaves a shining wake behind him;
one would think the deep had white hair.
25 Nothing on dry land is his equal—
a creature without fear.
26 He sees every haughty thing;
he is king over all who are proud.”
Job Retracts
42 Job answered Adonai and said:
2 “I know You can do all things;
no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
3 You ask, ‘Who is this,
who darkens counsel without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke without understanding,
things too wonderful for me which I did not know.
4 You said, ‘Hear now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you will inform Me.’
5 I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
but now my eye has seen You.
6 Therefore I despise myself,
and repent on dust and ashes.”
Job Restored
7 After Adonai had spoken these words to Job, Adonai said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken about Me what is right, like My servant Job has. 8 So now, take for yourselves seven young bulls and seven rams and go to My servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept Job’s prayer[c] and not deal with you according to your folly because you have not spoken correctly about Me, like My servant Job.”
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what Adonai told them; and Adonai accepted Job’s prayer.
10 So Adonai restored what Job had lost, after he prayed for his friends and Adonai doubled everything that Job had before. 11 Then all his brothers, all his sisters and everyone who had known him before, came to him and ate bread with him in his house. They consoled him and comforted him for all the calamity that Adonai had brought upon him. Each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.
12 So Adonai blessed Job’s latter days more than at his beginning. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 Nowhere in the land were there found women as beautiful as the daughters of Job. Their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children for four generations. 17 And so Job died, old and full of days.
Footnotes
- Job 40:25 Traditional Christian text numbered as 41:1-34.
- Job 41:3 cf. Rom. 11:35.
- Job 42:8 Lit. lift up his face; also 42:9.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.