Job 40

1Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said:[#Job 38:1]

2“Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?[#Job 9:3; 10:2; 33:13]

He who rebukes God, let him answer it.”

Job’s Response to God

3Then Job answered the Lord and said:

4“Behold, I am vile;[#Ezra 9:6; Job 42:6]

What shall I answer You?

I lay my hand over my mouth.

5Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;

Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

God’s Challenge to Job

6Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:[#Job 38:1]

7“Now prepare yourself like a man;[#Job 38:3]

I will question you, and you shall answer Me:

8“Would you indeed annul My judgment?[#Job 16:11; 19:6; (Ps. 51:4; Rom. 3:4)]

Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?

9Have you an arm like God?

Or can you thunder with a voice like His?

10Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,[#Ps. 93:1; 104:1]

And array yourself with glory and beauty.

11Disperse the rage of your wrath;

Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him.

12Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low;[#1 Sam. 2:7; (Is. 2:12; 13:11); Dan. 4:37]

Tread down the wicked in their place.

13Hide them in the dust together,

Bind their faces in hidden darkness.

14Then I will also confess to you

That your own right hand can save you.

15“Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you;

He eats grass like an ox.

16See now, his strength is in his hips,

And his power is in his stomach muscles.

17He moves his tail like a cedar;

The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.

18His bones are like beams of bronze,

His ribs like bars of iron.

19He is the first of the ways of God;[#Job 26:14]

Only He who made him can bring near His sword.

20Surely the mountains yield food for him,[#Ps. 104:14]

And all the beasts of the field play there.

21He lies under the lotus trees,

In a covert of reeds and marsh.

22The lotus trees cover him with their shade;

The willows by the brook surround him.

23Indeed the river may rage,

Yet he is not disturbed;

He is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth,

24Though he takes it in his eyes,

Or one pierces his nose with a snare.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Published by: Thomas Nelson, Inc.