Job 38:1-42:6

The LORD Speaks 1Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

2“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?

3Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.

4“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

5Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—

7while the morning stars sang together and all the angels Hebrew the sons of God shouted for joy?

8“Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,

9when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,

10when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,

11when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?

12“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,

13that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?

14The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.

15The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.

16“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?

18Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.

19“What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?

20Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

21Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!

22“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,

23which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?

24What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

25Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,

26to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert,

27to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?

28Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?

29From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

30when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?

31“Can you bind the chains Septuagint; Hebrew beauty of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt?

32Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons Or the morning star in its season or lead out the Bear Or out Leo with its cubs?

33Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s Or their dominion over the earth?

34“Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?

35Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?

36Who gives the ibis wisdom That is, wisdom about the flooding of the Nile or gives the rooster understanding? That is, understanding of when to crow; the meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

37Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

38when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?

39“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions

40when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? 41Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?

1“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

2Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?

3They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended.

4Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.

5“Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes?

6I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat.

7It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout.

8It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing.

9“Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it stay by your manger at night?

10Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness? Will it till the valleys behind you?

11Will you rely on it for its great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to it?

12Can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?

13“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.

14She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand,

15unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.

16She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain,

17for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.

18Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.

19“Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?

20Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting?

21It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray.

22It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword.

23The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance.

24In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

25At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’ It catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

26“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?

27Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?

28It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold.

29From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar. 30Its young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there it is.”

1The LORD said to Job:

2“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”

3Then Job answered the LORD :

4“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.

5I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.”

6Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:

7“Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.

8“Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

9Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his?

10Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.

11Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at all who are proud and bring them low,

12look at all who are proud and humble them, crush the wicked where they stand.

13Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave.

14Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.

15“Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox.

16What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly!

17Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.

18Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron.

19It ranks first among the works of God, yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.

20The hills bring it their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby.

21Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh.

22The lotuses conceal it in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround it.

23A raging river does not alarm it; it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth. 24Can anyone capture it by the eyes, or trap it and pierce its nose?

1In Hebrew texts 41:1-8 is numbered 40:25-32, and 41:9-34 is numbered 41:1-26. “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope?

2Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook?

3Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words?

4Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life?

5Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?

6Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?

7Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?

8If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!

9Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering.

10No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me?

11Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.

12“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form.

13Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor Septuagint; Hebrew double bridle ?

14Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth?

15Its back has Or Its pride is its rows of shields tightly sealed together;

16each is so close to the next that no air can pass between.

17They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted.

18Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn.

19Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.

20Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.

21Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth.

22Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it.

23The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.

24Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.

25When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing.

26The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.

27Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.

28Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it.

29A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance.

30Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.

31It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.

32It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair.

33Nothing on earth is its equal— a creature without fear. 34It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.”

Job 1Then Job replied to the LORD :

2“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

3You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

4“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’

5My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.

6Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”