40 耶和华又对约伯说:
“强辩者岂可与全能者争论?
与上帝辩驳的人请作出答复。”

约伯回答耶和华说:
“我这样卑微,怎能答复你?
我只有用手掩口。
我说了一次,不能答复;
说了两次,不敢再说。”

耶和华从旋风中对约伯说:
“你要像勇士一样束腰备战,
我来提问,你来回答。
你要推翻我的公义,
归罪于我而自以为义吗?
你有上帝那样的臂膀吗?
你能像祂那样发出雷鸣吗?
10 请展示你的荣耀和光辉,
披上你的尊荣和威严;
11 发泄你满腔的怒火,
鉴察骄傲者,贬抑他;
12 鉴察骄傲者,制服他,
将恶人原地践踏;
13 将他们一起埋进尘土,
藏入幽冥。
14 这样,我就承认你的右手能拯救自己。

15 “你看河马,
它和你都是我造的,
它像牛一样吃草。
16 你看它腰间的气力,
它腹部肌肉的力量。
17 它尾巴挺直如香柏树,
大腿的筋紧密相连,
18 骨头如铜管,
四肢像铁棍。
19 它是上帝创造的杰作,
创造主赐给它利刃[a]
20 群山供应它食物,
百兽在那里玩耍。
21 它躺在莲叶之下,
藏在泥沼的芦苇间,
22 莲叶为它遮荫,
溪畔的柳树环绕它。
23 河水泛滥,它不惊惧;
约旦河涨到它口边,它也无忧。
24 谁能在它警觉时捕捉它,
或用钩子穿透它的鼻子?

Footnotes

  1. 40:19 创造主赐给它利刃”或译“只有创造主能持利刃接近它”。

Job: What Can I Say?

40 Then the Lord said to Job,


“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Let him who disputes with God answer it.”

Then Job replied to the Lord and said,


“Behold, I am of little importance and contemptible; what can I reply to You?
I lay my hand on my mouth.(A)

“I have spoken once, but I will not reply again—
Indeed, twice [I have answered], and I will add nothing further.”

God Questions Job

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, saying,


“Now [a]gird up your loins (prepare yourself) like a man,
And I will ask you, and you instruct Me.

“Will you really annul My judgment and set it aside as void?
Will you condemn Me [your God] that you may [appear to] be righteous and justified?

“Have you an arm like God,
And can you thunder with a voice like His?

10 
“Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity [since you question the Almighty],
And array yourself with honor and majesty.
11 
“Pour out the overflowings of your wrath,
And look at everyone who is proud and make him low.
12 
Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him,
And [if you are so able] tread down the wicked where they stand.
13 
“[Crush and] hide them in the dust together;
Shut them up in the hidden place [the house of death].
14 
“[If you can do all this, Job, proving your divine power] then I [God] will also praise you and acknowledge
That your own right hand can save you.

God’s Power Shown in Creatures

15 
“Behold now, [b]Behemoth, which I created as well as you;
He eats grass like an ox.
16 
“See now, his strength is in his loins
And his power is in the muscles and sinews of his belly.
17 
“He sways his tail like a cedar;
The tendons of his thighs are twisted and knit together [like a rope].
18 
“His bones are tubes of bronze;
His [c]limbs are like bars of iron.

19 
“He is the first [in magnitude and power] of the works of God;
[Only] He who made him can bring near His sword [to master him].
20 
“Surely the mountains bring him food,
And all the wild animals play there.
21 
“He lies down under the lotus plants,
In the hidden shelter of the reeds in the marsh.
22 
“The lotus plants cover him with their shade;
The willows of the brook surround him.
23 
“If a river rages and overflows, he does not tremble;
He is confident, though the Jordan [River] swells and rushes against his mouth.
24 
“Can anyone capture him when he is on watch,
Or pierce his nose with barbs [to trap him]?

Footnotes

  1. Job 40:7 See note 38:3.
  2. Job 40:15 Or the hippopotamus. Although Behemoth cannot be identified with certainty, the biblical description seems most like the hippopotamus. In ancient times it may have been even more formidable than today. In Job’s day the hippopotamus was the largest known creature, was commonly found in the lower Nile River, and may also have existed in the Jordan.
  3. Job 40:18 Lit bones.