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The Lord Is Speaking to Job

40 Then the Lord said to Job, ² “Will one who finds fault not agree with the All-powerful? He who speaks strong words against God, let him answer.”

³ Job answered the Lord and said, ⁴ “See, I am not important. What can I answer You? I put my hand on my mouth. ⁵ I have spoken once, and I cannot answer; even twice, and I have no more to say.”

⁶ Then the Lord answered out of the storm, and said, ⁷ “Get ready like a man. I will ask you, and you answer Me. ⁸ Will you say what I decide is wrong? Will you say that I have done wrong, that you may be made right? ⁹ Do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like His?

¹⁰ “Dress yourself with shining-greatness and great power. Cover yourself with honor and greatness. ¹¹ Pour out your anger that is flowing over. Look on everyone who is proud, and put him to shame. ¹² Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him down. Crush the sinful where they stand. ¹³ Hide them all in the dust together. Shut them up in the hidden place. ¹⁴ Then I will also tell you that your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵ “See now the hippopotamus, which I made as well as you. He eats grass like an ox. ¹⁶ See, his strength is in his body. His power is in his stomach. ¹⁷ He moves his tail like a cedar tree. His legs are made very strong. ¹⁸ His bones are like brass. His legs are like pieces of iron.

¹⁹ “He is the first of the works of God. Let his maker bring him his sword. ²⁰ For sure the mountains bring food to him where all the animals of the field play. ²¹ He lies down under the lotus plants, hidden in the high river grass. ²² He lies in the shadow of the lotus plants, with the willow trees of the river around him. ²³ If a river flows over, he is not afraid. He is sure of himself even if the Jordan rushes against his mouth. ²⁴ Can anyone take him when he is watching? Can anyone catch him and put a ring in his nose?

The Lord Is Speaking to Job

41 “Can you pull the crocodile out with a fish-hook? Can you tie his tongue down with a rope? ² Can you put a rope in his nose, or put a hook through his jaw? ³ Will he beg you to be good to him? Will he speak soft words to you? ⁴ Will he make an agreement with you to take him and make him your servant forever? ⁵ Will you play with him as if he were a bird? Or will you put him on a rope for your young women? ⁶ Will traders talk about buying and selling him? Will they divide him among the store-keepers? ⁷ Can you fill his skin or his head with fish spears? ⁸ Lay your hand on him, and remember the battle. You will not do it again! ⁹ See, the hope of man is false. One is laid low even when seeing him. ¹⁰ No one is so powerful that he would wake him. Who then can stand before Me? ¹¹ Who has given Me everything, that I should pay him back? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.

¹² “I will not keep quiet about his legs, or his powerful strength, or the good way he is made. ¹³ Who can take off his outside clothing? Who can get through his hard skin? ¹⁴ Who can open the doors of his mouth? Around his teeth is much fear. ¹⁵ His hard covering is his pride. He is shut up as with a lock. ¹⁶ One piece of his hard skin is so close to another that no air can come between them. ¹⁷ They are joined one to another. They hold on to each other and cannot be separated. ¹⁸ His breath gives out light. And his eyes are like those of the first light of day. ¹⁹ Burning light goes out of his mouth. Fire comes out. ²⁰ Smoke goes out of his nostrils, as from a boiling pot and burning grass. ²¹ His breath sets fire to coals. A fire goes out of his mouth. ²² Strength is in his neck, and fear jumps in front of him. ²³ The folds of his flesh are joined together. They are set in place and cannot be moved. ²⁴ His heart is as hard as a stone, even as hard as a grinding-stone. ²⁵ When he raises himself up, the powerful are afraid. They are troubled because of his noise. ²⁶ The sword that hits him cannot cut. And spears are of no use. ²⁷ He thinks of iron as straw, and brass as soft wood. ²⁸ The arrow cannot make him run away. Stones thrown at him are like dry grass to him. ²⁹ He thinks of heavy sticks as dry grass. He laughs at the noise of the spear. ³⁰ The parts under him are like sharp pieces of a pot. He spreads out like a grain crusher on the mud. ³¹ He makes the sea boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a jar of oil. ³² He makes his way shine behind him. One would think that the sea has white hair. ³³ Nothing on earth is like him, one made without fear. ³⁴ He looks on everything that is high. He is king over all that are proud.”

Job Answers the Lord

42 Then Job answered the Lord, and said, ² “I know that You can do all things. Nothing can put a stop to Your plans. ³ ‘Who is this that hides words of wisdom without much learning?’ I have said things that I did not understand, things too great for me, which I did not know. ⁴ ‘Hear now, and I will speak. I will ask you, and you answer Me.’ ⁵ I had heard of You only by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. ⁶ So I hate the things that I have said. And I put dust and ashes on myself to show how sorry I am.”

Job Is Richer Now

⁷ After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger burns against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. ⁸ So now take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job. Give a burnt gift for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will hear his prayer and not punish you for being foolish, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” ⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, did what the Lord told them. And the Lord heard Job’s prayer.

¹⁰ The Lord returned to Job all the things that he had lost, when he prayed for his friends. The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. ¹¹ Then all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and ate bread with him in his house. They showed pity and comforted him for all the trouble the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him one piece of money and a gold ring. ¹² The Lord brought more good to Job in his later years than in his beginning. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 2,000 oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. ¹³ He had seven sons and three daughters also. ¹⁴ He gave the first the name Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. ¹⁵ No women were found in all the land who were as beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them a share among their brothers. ¹⁶ After this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, his grandsons, and even their sons. ¹⁷ Then Job died, an old man having lived many days.