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
King James Version
40 Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said,
2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
3 Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
6 Then answered the Lord unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.
11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.
12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.
13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.
14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.
15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.