Chronological
The Lord Challenges Job Again
40 The Lord continued his response to Job by saying:
2 “Should the one who is fighting the Almighty find fault with him?[a]
Let God’s accuser answer.”
Job Acknowledges His Limitations
3 Then Job replied to the Lord. He said:
4 “I must look insignificant to you!
How can I answer you?
I’m speechless.[b]
5 I spoke once,
but I can’t answer;
I tried[c] a second time,
but I won’t do so anymore.”
The Lord Continues to Interrogate Job
6 The Lord answered Job from the wind storm and told him:
7 “Stand up[d] like a man!
I’ll ask you some questions,
and you give me some answers!
8 Indeed would you annul my justice and condemn me,
just so you can claim that you’re righteous?
9 Do you have strength[e] like God?
Can you create thunder with a sound[f] like he can?”
Can You Save Yourself?
10 “When you have adorned yourself with exalted majesty,
clothed yourself with splendor and dignity,[g]
11 dispensed the fury of your anger,
made sure[h] that you have humbled every proud person,
12 stared down and subdued every proud person,
trampled the wicked right where they are,
13 buried[i] them in the dust together,
and sent them bound to that secret place,[j]
14 then I will applaud you myself!
I’ll admit that you can deliver yourself by your own efforts!”
On Behemoth
15 “Please observe[k] Behemoth,[l] which I made along with you.
He eats grass like an ox.
16 Now take a look at the strength that he has in his loins,
and in the muscles of his abdomen.
17 His tail protrudes stiffly, like cedar;[m]
the sinews of his thigh interlink for strength.
18 His bones are conduits[n] of bronze;[o]
his strong bones are like bars of iron.
19 He is the grandest[p] of God’s undertakings,[q]
yet his creator is approaching him with his sword.[r]
20 Mountains produce food for him,
where all the wild animals frolic.
21 He lies under the lotus trees,
hiding under reeds and marshes.[s]
22 The lotus trees cover him with their shade,
and willows that line the wadis[t] surround him.
23 What you see as a raging river doesn’t alarm him;
he is confident when the Jordan overflows.
24 Are your eyes looking to capture him,
or to pierce his snout with a bridle?”
On Leviathan
41 [u]“Can you draw Leviathan[v] out of the water[w] with a hook,
or tie down[x] his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you attach a bridle[y] to his snout,
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he make many supplications to you,
or will he beg you for mercy?[z]
4 Will he try to make a deal with you,
so that you may take him in servitude forever?
5 “Will you play with him like a pet bird?
Will you put a leash on him for your little girls?
6 Will your business be able to buy him,
Will you divide him among your merchant friends?
7 Will you fill his flesh with harpoons,
or his head with lances?
8 Lay your hand on him,
and you’ll remember the struggle.
You’ll never do that again!
9 “Look! Anyone’s hope to capture him[aa] will prove itself false;
anyone would be terrified[ab] just by looking at him.
10 No one is fierce enough to dare to arouse him.
“Who, then, can stand in my presence and face me?
11 Who can take me to court and be reconciled to me?
All of heaven is mine.
12 “I won’t be silent concerning his limbs,
his mighty strength, and orderly frame.
13 Who can strip off his outer armor?[ac]
Who can approach him with a bridle?
14 Who dares to open his mouth,[ad]
since it is ringed with his terrible teeth!
15 His protective scales are his pride,
they lie sealed tightly together.
16 Each one is so close to the other
that not even air comes in between them.
17 Each is attached to the other,[ae]
grasping each other so they cannot be separated.
18 “His snorting releases flashes of light;
his eyes are like the rays[af] of the dawn.
19 Flames blaze from his mouth;
streams of sparking fire fly out.
20 Smoke billows from his nostrils;
like a boiling pot or burning reeds.
21 His breath can ignite coal;
and flames proceed from his mouth.
22 “His neck is so powerful
that all who meet him are terrified.
23 There is no flaw in his body’s armor;
it is firmly fixed on him and unbreachable.
24 His heart is as strong as stone,
it is as hard as a lower millstone.
25 When he rears up, the mighty are terrified;
they are bewildered as he thrashes about.
26 “Thrusting at him with a sword won’t be effective,
nor will spears, darts, or javelins.
27 He regards iron like straw,
and hardened bronze like a dead tree.
28 Arrows won’t make him flee;
stones from a sling are only pebbles to him.
29 Clubs are like twigs;[ag]
he laughs at the whoosh of the javelin.
30 “Beneath him he is armored as with sharp potsherds;
he tears through muddy ground
like a threshing sledge through grain.[ah]
31 He causes the deep to boil like water in[ai] a pot,
and churns the sea like one stirs ointment.
32 The sea is luminescent behind him;
his wake turns the sea white, like those with gray hair.
33 “There’s nothing like him on earth;
he was created without the ability to fear.
34 He looks down on everything that is high;
he rules over every kind[aj] of pride.”
Job Repents and is Restored
42 Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know[ak] that you can do anything
and nothing that you plan is impossible.
3 You asked,[al] ‘Who is this that darkens counsel without knowledge?’
Well now, I have talked about what I don’t understand—
awesome things beyond me that I don’t know.
4 Listen now, and I will speak for myself;
I’ll interrogate you and then inform me.
5 I’ve heard you with my ears;
and now I’ve seen you with my eyes.
6 As a result, I despise myself and repent
in dust and ashes.”
Job’s Friends are Restored
7 After these words had been spoken by the Lord to Job, the Lord spoke to Eliphaz from Teman: “My anger is burning against you along with your two friends, since you haven’t spoken correctly about me, as did my servant Job. 8 So take seven bulls and seven rams and bring them to my servant Job. And bring a whole burnt offering for yourselves and my servant Job will pray for you. I’ll encourage him[am] by not responding as your disgraceful folly deserves, since you didn’t speak about me correctly as did my servant Job.” 9 So Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamath did precisely as the Lord had spoken to them, because the Lord showed favor to[an] Job.
Job’s Prosperity Returns
10 The Lord restored Job’s prosperity after he prayed for his friends. The Lord doubled everything that Job had once possessed. 11 Then all his brothers and sisters and all those who knew him before arrived. They ate food with him in his house, mourned for him, and consoled him for all the trouble that the Lord had brought and placed on him. Some[ao] gave him gold bullion[ap] and some brought[aq] gold earrings.
12 The Lord blessed Job during the latter part of his life[ar] more than the former, since he owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen[as] and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first daughter Jemima,[at] the second Keziah,[au] and the name of the third was Keren-happuch.[av] 15 No one could find more beautiful women in the whole land than Job’s daughters. Their father gave them their inheritance along with their brothers. 16 Job lived 140 years after this, and saw his children and grandchildren to the fourth generation. 17 Then Job died at an old age, having lived a full life.[aw]
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