Job 40

Job 40

1And the Lord said to Job:

2“Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?[#Job 13.3; 23.4; 31.35; 33.13; #40.2 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai]

Anyone who argues with God must respond.”

Job’s Response to God

3Then Job answered the Lord :

4“See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?[#Job 29.9; 42.6]

I lay my hand on my mouth.

5I have spoken once, and I will not answer,[#Job 9.3, 15]

twice but will proceed no further.”

God’s Challenge to Job

6Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:[#Job 38.1]

7“Gird up your loins like a man;[#Job 38.3; 42.4]

I will question you, and you declare to me.

8Will you even put me in the wrong?[#Isa 14.27; Rom 3.4]

Will you condemn me that you may be justified?

9Have you an arm like God,[#2 Chr 32.8; Job 37.5]

and can you thunder with a voice like his?

10“Deck yourself with majesty and dignity;[#Ps 93.1; 104.1]

clothe yourself with glory and splendor.

11Pour out the overflowings of your anger,[#Isa 2.12; 42.25; Dan 4.37]

and look on all who are proud and humble them.

12Look on all who are proud and bring them low;[#1 Sam 2.7; Job 36.20; Isa 13.11; 63.3]

tread down the wicked where they stand.

13Hide them all in the dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.

14Then I will also acknowledge to you[#Ps 20.6; 60.5; 108.6]

that your own right hand can give you victory.

15“Look at Behemoth,[#v 19]

which I made just as I made you;

it eats grass like an ox.

16Its strength is in its loins

and its power in the muscles of its belly.

17It makes its tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of its thighs are knit together.

18Its bones are tubes of bronze,

its limbs like bars of iron.

19“It is the first of the great acts of God;[#v 15 ; Job 41.33]

only its Maker can approach it with the sword.

20For the mountains yield food for it[#Ps 104.26]

where all the wild animals play.

21Under the lotus plants it lies,

in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.

22The lotus trees cover it for shade;[#Isa 44.1]

the willows of the wadi surround it.

23Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened;

it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.

24Can one take it with hooks[#Prov 1.17; #40.24 Cn: Heb in his eyes]

or pierce its nose with a snare?

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Published by: National Council of the Churches of Christ