Job 40

Common English Bible

² Will the one who disputes with the Almighty correct him?
    God’s instructor must answer him.
³ Job responded to the Lord:
⁴ Look, I’m of little worth. What can I answer you?
    I’ll put my hand over my mouth.
⁵ I have spoken once, I won’t answer;
    twice, I won’t do it again.

⁶ The Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:
⁷ Prepare yourself like a man;
    I will interrogate you, and you will respond to me.
⁸ Would you question my justice,
    deem me guilty so you can be innocent?
⁹ Or do you have an arm like God;
    can you thunder with a voice like him?
¹⁰ Adorn yourself with splendor and majesty;
    clothe yourself with honor and esteem.
¹¹ Unleash your raging anger;
    look on all the proud and humble them.
¹² Look on all the proud and debase them;
    trample the wicked in their place.
¹³ Hide them together in the dust;
    bind their faces in a hidden place.
¹⁴ Then I, even I, will praise you,
    for your strong hand has delivered you.

¹⁵ Look at Behemoth, whom I made along with you;
    he eats grass like cattle.
¹⁶ Look, his strength is in his thighs,
    his power in stomach muscles.
¹⁷ He stiffens his tail like a cedar;
    the tendons in his thighs are tightly woven.
¹⁸ His bones are like bronze tubes,
    his limbs like iron bars.
¹⁹ He is the first of God’s acts;
    only his maker can come near him with a sword.
²⁰ Indeed, the hills bring him tribute,
    places where all the wild animals play.
²¹ He lies under the lotuses,
    under the cover of reed and marsh.
²² The lotuses screen him with shade;
    poplars of the stream surround him.
²³ If the river surges, he doesn’t hurry;
    he is confident even though the Jordan gushes into his mouth.
²⁴ Can he be seized by his eyes?
    Can anyone pierce his nose by hooks?