Historical
Chapter 40
1 The Lord then answered Job and said:
2 Will one who argues with the Almighty be corrected?
Let him who would instruct God give answer!(A)
3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
4 [a]Look, I am of little account; what can I answer you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I have spoken once, I will not reply;
twice, but I will do so no more.
6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said:
7 Gird up your loins now, like a man.
I will question you, and you tell me the answers!
8 [b]Would you refuse to acknowledge my right?
Would you condemn me that you may be justified?
9 Have you an arm like that of God,
or can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 Adorn yourself with grandeur and majesty,
and clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11 Let loose the fury of your wrath;
look at everyone who is proud and bring them down.
12 Look at everyone who is proud, and humble them.
Tear down the wicked in their place,
13 bury them in the dust together;
in the hidden world imprison them.
14 Then will I too praise you,
for your own right hand can save you.
15 Look at Behemoth,[c] whom I made along with you,
who feeds on grass like an ox.
16 See the strength in his loins,
the power in the sinews of his belly.
17 He carries his tail like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are like cables.
18 His bones are like tubes of bronze;
his limbs are like iron rods.
19 He is the first of God’s ways,
only his maker can approach him with a sword.
20 For the mountains bring him produce,
and all wild animals make sport there.
21 Under lotus trees he lies,
in coverts of the reedy swamp.
22 The lotus trees cover him with their shade;
all about him are the poplars in the wadi.
23 If the river grows violent, he is not disturbed;
he is tranquil though the Jordan surges about his mouth.
24 Who can capture him by his eyes,
or pierce his nose[d] with a trap?
25 Can you lead Leviathan[e] about with a hook,
or tie down his tongue with a rope?
26 Can you put a ring into his nose,
or pierce through his cheek with a gaff?
27 Will he then plead with you, time after time,
or address you with tender words?
28 Will he make a covenant with you
that you may have him as a slave forever?
29 Can you play with him, as with a bird?
Can you tie him up for your little girls?
30 Will the traders bargain for him?
Will the merchants[f] divide him up?
31 Can you fill his hide with barbs,
or his head with fish spears?
32 Once you but lay a hand upon him,
no need to recall any other conflict!
Chapter 41
1 Whoever might vainly hope to do so
need only see him to be overthrown.
2 No one is fierce enough to arouse him;
who then dares stand before me?
3 Whoever has assailed me, I will pay back—
Everything under the heavens is mine.
4 I need hardly mention his limbs,
his strength, and the fitness of his equipment.
5 Who can strip off his outer garment,
or penetrate his double armor?
6 Who can force open the doors of his face,
close to his terrible teeth?
7 Rows of scales are on his back,
tightly sealed together;
8 They are fitted so close to each other
that no air can come between them;
9 So joined to one another
that they hold fast and cannot be parted.
10 When he sneezes, light flashes forth;
his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
11 Out of his mouth go forth torches;
sparks of fire leap forth.
12 From his nostrils comes smoke
as from a seething pot or bowl.
13 His breath sets coals afire;
a flame comes from his mouth.
14 Strength abides in his neck,
and power leaps before him.
15 The folds of his flesh stick together,
it is cast over him and immovable.
16 His heart is cast as hard as stone;
cast as the lower millstone.
17 When he rises up, the gods are afraid;
when he crashes down, they fall back.
18 Should a sword reach him, it will not avail;
nor will spear, dart, or javelin.
19 He regards iron as chaff,
and bronze as rotten wood.
20 No arrow will put him to flight;
slingstones used against him are but straw.
21 Clubs he regards as straw;
he laughs at the crash of the spear.
22 Under him are sharp pottery fragments,
spreading a threshing sledge upon the mire.
23 He makes the depths boil like a pot;
he makes the sea like a perfume bottle.
24 Behind him he leaves a shining path;
you would think the deep had white hair.
25 Upon the earth there is none like him,
he was made fearless.
26 He looks over all who are haughty,
he is king over all proud beasts.
Chapter 42
1 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2 I know that you can do all things,[g]
and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.
3 “Who is this who obscures counsel with ignorance?”
I have spoken but did not understand;
things too marvelous for me, which I did not know.(B)
4 “Listen, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you tell me the answers.”
5 By hearsay I had heard of you,
but now my eye has seen you.[h]
6 Therefore I disown what I have said,
and repent in dust and ashes.[i]
IX. Epilogue
Job’s Restoration. 7 And after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger blazes against you and your two friends![j] You have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves, and let my servant Job pray for you.[k] To him I will show favor, and not punish your folly, for you have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job.” 9 Then Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did as the Lord had commanded them. The Lord showed favor to Job.
10 The Lord also restored the prosperity of Job, after he had prayed for his friends; the Lord even gave to Job twice[l] as much as he had before. 11 Then all his brothers and sisters came to him, and all his former acquaintances, and they dined with him in his house. They consoled and comforted him for all the evil the Lord had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of money[m] and a gold ring.
12 (C)Thus the Lord blessed the later days of Job more than his earlier ones. Now he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters: 14 the first daughter he called Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.[n] 15 In all the land no other women were as beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance[o] among their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; and he saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren.(D) 17 Then Job died, old and full of years.
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