Job 38-42

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

² “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?^(B)
3 Gird up your loins like a man;
    I will question you, and you shall declare to me.^(C)

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
    Tell me, if you have understanding.^(D)
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
    Or who stretched the line upon it?
⁶ On what were its bases sunk,
    or who laid its cornerstone^(E)
7 when the morning stars sang together
    and all the heavenly beings^[a] shouted for joy?^(F)

⁸ “Or who shut in the sea with doors
    when it burst out from the womb,^(G)
9 when I made the clouds its garment
    and thick darkness its swaddling band,^(H)
10 and prescribed bounds for it,
    and set bars and doors,^(I)
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come and no farther,
    and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?^(J)

¹² “Have you commanded the morning since your days began
    and caused the dawn to know its place,^(K)
13 so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
    and the wicked be shaken out of it?^(L)
14 It is changed like clay under the seal,
    and it is dyed^[b] like a garment.
¹⁵ Light is withheld from the wicked,
    and their uplifted arm is broken.^(M)

¹⁶ “Have you entered into the springs of the sea
    or walked in the recesses of the deep?^(N)
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
    or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?^(O)
18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
    Declare, if you know all this.^(P)

¹⁹ “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
    and where is the place of darkness,
²⁰ that you may take it to its territory
    and that you may discern the paths to its home?^(Q)
21 Surely you know, for you were born then,
    and the number of your days is great!^(R)

²² “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
    or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,^(S)
23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
    for the day of battle and war?^(T)
24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed
    or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?^(U)

²⁵ “Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain
    and a way for the thunderbolt,^(V)
26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
    on the desert, which is empty of human life,^(W)
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
    and to make the ground put forth grass?^(X)

²⁸ “Has the rain a father,
    or who has fathered the drops of dew?^(Y)
29 From whose womb did the ice come forth,
    and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?^(Z)
30 The waters become hard like stone,
    and the face of the deep is frozen.

³¹ “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
    or loose the cords of Orion?^(AA)
32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
    or can you guide the Bear with its children?
³³ Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
    Can you establish their rule on the earth?^(AB)

³⁴ “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
    so that a flood of waters may cover you?^(AC)
35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
    and say to you, ‘Here we are’?^(AD)
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts^[c]
    or given understanding to the mind?^[d](AE)
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
    Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens
³⁸ when the dust runs into a mass
    and the clods cling together?

³⁹ “Can you hunt the prey for the lion
    or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,^(AF)
40 when they crouch in their dens
    or lie in wait in their covert?^(AG)
41 Who provides for the raven its prey,
    when its young ones cry to God
    and wander about for lack of food?^(AH)

39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
    Do you observe the calving of the deer?^(AI)
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill,
    and do you know the time when they give birth,
³ when they crouch to give birth to their offspring
    and are delivered of their young?^(AJ)
4 Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;
    they go forth and do not return to them.

⁵ “Who has let the wild ass go free?
    Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,^(AK)
6 to which I have given the steppe for its home,
    the salt land for its dwelling place?^(AL)
7 It scorns the tumult of the city;
    it does not hear the shouts of the driver.
⁸ It ranges the mountains as its pasture,
    and it searches after every green thing.

⁹ “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
    Will it spend the night at your crib?^(AM)
10 Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes,
    or will it harrow the valleys after you?
¹¹ Will you depend on it because its strength is great,
    and will you hand over your labor to it?
¹² Do you have faith in it that it will return
    and bring your grain to your threshing floor?^[e]

¹³ “The ostrich’s wings flap wildly,
    though its pinions lack plumage.^[f]
14 For it leaves its eggs to the earth
    and lets them be warmed on the ground,
¹⁵ forgetting that a foot may crush them
    and that a wild animal may trample them.
¹⁶ It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own;
    though its labor should be in vain, yet it has no fear;^(AN)
17 because God has made it forget wisdom
    and given it no share in understanding.^(AO)
18 When it spreads its plumes aloft,^[g]
    it laughs at the horse and its rider.

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse its might?
    Do you clothe its neck with mane?^(AP)
20 Do you make it leap like the locust?
    Its majestic snorting is terrible.^(AQ)
21 It paws^[h] violently, exults mightily;
    it goes out to meet the weapons.^(AR)
22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
    it does not turn back from the sword.
²³ Upon it rattle the quiver,
    the flashing spear, and the javelin.
²⁴ With fierceness and rage it swallows the ground;
    it cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.^(AS)
25 When the trumpet sounds, it says ‘Aha!’
    From a distance it smells the battle,
    the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.^(AT)

²⁶ “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars
    and spreads its wings toward the south?
²⁷ Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
    and makes its nest on high?^(AU)
28 It lives on the rock and makes its home
    in the fastness of the rocky crag.
²⁹ From there it spies the prey;
    its eyes see it from far away.^(AV)
30 Its young ones suck up blood,
    and where the slain are, there it is.”^(AW)

² “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?^[i]
    Anyone who argues with God must respond.”^(AX)

⁴ “See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
    I lay my hand on my mouth.^(AY)
5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer,
    twice but will proceed no further.”^(AZ)

⁷ “Gird up your loins like a man;
    I will question you, and you declare to me.^(BB)
8 Will you even put me in the wrong?
    Will you condemn me that you may be justified?^(BC)
9 Have you an arm like God,
    and can you thunder with a voice like his?^(BD)

¹⁰ “Deck yourself with majesty and dignity;
    clothe yourself with glory and splendor.^(BE)
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
    and look on all who are proud and humble them.^(BF)
12 Look on all who are proud and bring them low;
    tread down the wicked where they stand.^(BG)
13 Hide them all in the dust together;
    bind their faces in the world below.^[j]
14 Then I will also acknowledge to you
    that your own right hand can give you victory.^(BH)

¹⁵ “Look at Behemoth,
    which I made just as I made you;
    it eats grass like an ox.^(BI)
16 Its strength is in its loins
    and its power in the muscles of its belly.
¹⁷ It makes its tail stiff like a cedar;
    the sinews of its thighs are knit together.
¹⁸ Its bones are tubes of bronze,
    its limbs like bars of iron.

¹⁹ “It is the first of the great acts of God;
    only its Maker can approach it with the sword.^(BJ)
20 For the mountains yield food for it
    where all the wild animals play.^(BK)
21 Under the lotus plants it lies,
    in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.
²² The lotus trees cover it for shade;
    the willows of the wadi surround it.^(BL)
23 Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened;
    it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.
²⁴ Can one take it with hooks^[k]
    or pierce its nose with a snare?^(BM)

41 ^[l]“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
    or press down its tongue with a cord?^(BN)
2 Can you put a rope in its nose
    or pierce its jaw with a hook?^(BO)
3 Will it make many supplications to you?
    Will it speak soft words to you?
⁴ Will it make a covenant with you
    to be taken as your servant forever?
⁵ Will you play with it as with a bird
    or put it on a leash for your young women?
⁶ Will traders bargain over it?
    Will they divide it up among the merchants?
⁷ Can you fill its skin with harpoons
    or its head with fishing spears?
⁸ Lay hands on it;
    think of the battle; you will not do it again!
^9 [m]Any hope of capturing it^[n] will be disappointed;
    one is overwhelmed even at the sight of it.
¹⁰ No one is so fierce as to dare to stir it up.
    Who can stand before it?^[o](BP)
11 Who can confront it^[p] and be safe?^[q]
    —under the whole heaven, who?^[r](BQ)

¹² “I will not keep silent concerning its limbs
    or its mighty strength or its splendid frame.
¹³ Who can strip off its outer garment?
    Who can penetrate its double coat of mail?^[s]
14 Who can open the doors of its face?
    There is terror all around its teeth.
¹⁵ Its back^[t] is made of shields in rows,
    shut up closely as with a seal.
¹⁶ One is so near to another
    that no air can come between them.
¹⁷ They are joined one to another;
    they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
¹⁸ Its sneezes flash forth light,
    and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.^(BR)
19 From its mouth go flaming torches;
    sparks of fire leap out.
²⁰ Out of its nostrils comes smoke,
    as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
²¹ Its breath kindles coals,
    and a flame comes out of its mouth.
²² In its neck abides strength,
    and terror dances before it.
²³ The folds of its flesh cling together;
    it is firmly cast and immovable.
²⁴ Its heart is as hard as stone,
    as hard as the lower millstone.
²⁵ When it raises itself up the gods are afraid;
    at the crashing they are beside themselves.
²⁶ Though the sword reaches it, it does not avail,
    nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
²⁷ It counts iron as straw
    and bronze as rotten wood.
²⁸ The arrow cannot make it flee;
    slingstones, for it, are turned to chaff.
²⁹ Clubs are counted as chaff;
    it laughs at the rattle of javelins.
³⁰ Its underparts are like sharp potsherds;
    it spreads itself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
³¹ It makes the deep boil like a pot;
    it makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
³² It leaves a shining wake behind it;
    one would think the deep to be white-haired.
³³ On earth it has no equal,
    a creature without fear.^(BS)
34 It surveys everything that is lofty;
    it is king over all that are proud.”

² “I know that you can do all things
    and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.^(BT)
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me that I did not know.^(BU)
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
    I will question you, and you declare to me.’^(BV)
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
    but now my eye sees you;^(BW)
6 therefore I despise myself
    and repent in dust and ashes.”^(BX)