Old/New Testament
God’s Power Shown in Creatures
41 “[a]Can you draw out [b]Leviathan with a fishhook?
Or press down his tongue with a cord?
2
“Can you put a rope [made] of rushes into his nose
Or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
3
“Will he make many supplications to you [begging to be spared]?
Or will he speak soft words to you [to coax you to treat him kindly]?
4
“Will he make a covenant or an arrangement with you?
Will you take him for your servant forever?
5
“Will you play with him as with a bird?
Or will you bind him [and put him on a leash] for your maidens?
6
“Will traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
7
“Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?
8
“Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle [with him]; you will not do such [an ill-advised thing] again!
9
“[c]Behold, his [assailant’s] hope and expectation [of defeating Leviathan] is false;
Will not one be overwhelmed even at the sight of him?
10
“No one is so fierce [and foolhardy] that he dares to stir up Leviathan;
Who then is he who can stand before Me [or dares to contend with Me, the beast’s creator]?
11
“Who has first given to Me that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine. [Who can have a claim against Me who made the unmastered beast?](A)
12
“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
Nor his mighty strength, nor his orderly frame.
13
“Who can penetrate or strip off his outer armor?
Who can come to his jaws with a double bridle?
14
“Who can open the doors (jaws) of his face?
Around his [open jaws and] teeth there is terror.
15
“His strong scales are his pride,
Bound together as with a tight seal.
16
“One is so near to another
That no air can come between them.
17
“They are joined one to another;
They stick together and cannot be separated.
18
“His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the [reddish] eyelids of the dawn.
19
“Out of his mouth go burning torches,
And sparks of fire leap out.
20
“Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth
As from a boiling pot and [as from] burning rushes.
21
“His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
22
“In Leviathan’s neck resides strength,
And dismay and terror dance before him.
23
“The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm on him and immobile [when he moves].
24
“His heart is as hard as a stone,
Indeed, as solid as a lower millstone.
25
“When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
26
“The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
Nor [does] the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27
“He considers iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.
28
“The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are treated as stubble by him.
29
“Clubs [also] are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rushing and the rattling of the javelin.
30
“His underparts are like sharp pieces of broken pottery;
He moves across and spreads out [grooves] like a threshing sledge on the mire (muddy river banks).
31
“He makes the deep water boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a [foaming] pot of ointment.
32
“Behind him he makes a shining wake;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired [with foam].
33
“Upon earth there is nothing like him—no equal exists,
A creature made without fear.
34
“He looks on everything that is high [without terror];
He is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now, Job, [d]who are you who does not dare to disturb the beast, yet who dares resist Me, the beast’s creator? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]”
Job’s Confession
42 Then Job answered the Lord and said,
2
“I know that You can do all things,
And that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained.
3
“[You said to me] ‘Who is this that darkens and obscures counsel [by words] without knowledge?’
Therefore [I now see] I have [rashly] uttered that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.(B)
4
‘Hear, please, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You instruct [and answer] me.’
5
“I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear,
But now my [spiritual] eye sees You.
6
“Therefore I retract [my words and hate myself]
And I repent in dust and ashes.”
God Displeased with Job’s Friends
7 It came about that after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. 8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him [and his prayer] so that I may not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
God Restores Job’s Fortunes
10 The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.(C) 11 Then all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him over all the [distressing] adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him a piece of money, and each a ring of gold. 12 And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.(D) 13 He had seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first [daughter] Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land there were found no women so fair as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. 17 So Job died, an old man and full of days.(E)
Paul and Silas Imprisoned
22 The crowd also joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and ordered that Paul and Silas be beaten with rods.(A) 23 After striking them many times [with the rods], they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely. 24 He, having received such a [strict] command, threw them into the inner prison (dungeon) and fastened their feet in the stocks [in an agonizing position].
25 But about midnight when Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 suddenly there was a great earthquake, so [powerful] that the very foundations of the prison were shaken and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer, shaken out of sleep, saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, saying, “Do not hurt yourself, we are all here!” 29 Then the jailer called for torches and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out [of the inner prison], he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
The Jailer Converted
31 And they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus [as your personal Savior and entrust yourself to Him] and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe].” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their bloody wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 Then he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, since he had believed in God with his entire family [accepting with joy what had been made known to them about the Christ].
35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And the jailer repeated the words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word to release you; so come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without a trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now they are sending us out secretly? No! Let them come here themselves and bring us out!” 38 The officers reported this message to the chief magistrates, and [a]when they heard that the prisoners were Romans, they were frightened; 39 so they came [to the prison] and appealed to them [with apologies], and when they brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. 40 So they left the prison and went to Lydia’s house; and when they had seen the brothers and sisters, they encouraged and comforted them, and left.
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