Job 40:6-41:26
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God’s Challenge to Job
6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:(A)
7 “Gird up your loins like a man;
I will question you, and you declare to me.(B)
8 Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be justified?(C)
9 Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?(D)
10 “Deck yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.(E)
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on all who are proud and humble them.(F)
12 Look on all who are proud and bring them low;
tread down the wicked where they stand.(G)
13 Hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.[a]
14 Then I will also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can give you victory.(H)
15 “Look at Behemoth,
which I made just as I made you;
it eats grass like an ox.(I)
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.(J)
20 For the mountains yield food for it
where all the wild animals play.(K)
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.(L)
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[b]
or pierce its nose with a snare?(M)
41 [c]“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
or press down its tongue with a cord?(N)
2 Can you put a rope in its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?(O)
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 [d]Any hope of capturing it[e] 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?[f](P)
11 Who can confront it[g] and be safe?[h]
—under the whole heaven, who?[i](Q)
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?[j]
14 Who can open the doors of its face?
There is terror all around its teeth.
15 Its back[k] 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.(R)
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.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.