Old/New Testament
The Description of Leviathan
41 (40:25)[a] “Can you pull in[b] Leviathan with a hook,
and tie down[c] its tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose,
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it make numerous supplications to you,[d]
will it speak to you with tender words?[e]
4 Will it make a pact[f] with you,
so you could take it[g] as your slave for life?
5 Can you play[h] with it, like a bird,
or tie it on a leash[i] for your girls?
6 Will partners[j] bargain[k] for it?
Will they divide it up[l] among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay your hand on it,
you will remember[m] the fight.
Do not do it again![n]
9 (41:1)[o] See, his expectation is wrong,[p]
he is laid low even at the sight of it.[q]
10 Is it not fierce[r] when it is awakened?
Who is he, then, who can stand before it?[s]
11 Who has confronted[t] me that I should repay?[u]
Everything under heaven belongs to me![v]
12 I will not keep silent about its limbs,
and the extent of its might,
and the grace of its arrangement.[w]
13 Who can uncover its outer covering?[x]
Who can penetrate to the inside of its armor?[y]
14 Who can open the doors of its mouth?[z]
Its teeth all around are fearsome.
15 Its back[aa] has rows of shields,
shut up closely[ab] together as with a seal;
16 each one is so close to the next[ac]
that no air can come between them.
17 They lock tightly together, one to the next;[ad]
they cling together and cannot be separated.
18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
its eyes are like the red glow[ae] of dawn.
19 Out of its mouth go flames,[af]
sparks of fire shoot forth!
20 Smoke streams from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot over burning[ag] rushes.
21 Its breath sets coals ablaze
and a flame shoots from its mouth.
22 Strength lodges in its neck,
and despair[ah] runs before it.
23 The folds[ai] of its flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm on it, immovable.[aj]
24 Its heart[ak] is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.
25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified,
at its thrashing about they withdraw.[al]
26 Whoever strikes it with a sword[am]
will have no effect,[an]
nor with the spear, arrow, or dart.
27 It regards iron as straw
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 Arrows[ao] do not make it flee;
slingstones become like chaff to it.
29 A club is counted[ap] as a piece of straw;
it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30 Its underparts[aq] are the sharp points of potsherds,
it leaves its mark in the mud
like a threshing sledge.[ar]
31 It makes the deep boil like a cauldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment,[as]
32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
one would think the deep had a head of white hair.
33 The likes of it is not on earth,
a creature[at] without fear.
34 It looks on every haughty being;
it is king over all that are proud.”[au]
Job’s Confession
42 Then Job answered the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted;
3 you asked,[av] ‘Who is this who darkens counsel without knowledge?’
But[aw] I have declared without understanding[ax]
things too wonderful for me to know.[ay]
4 You said,[az] ‘Pay attention, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you will answer me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye has seen you.[ba]
6 Therefore I despise myself,[bb]
and I repent in dust and ashes!”
VII. The Epilogue (42:7-17)
Job’s Restoration
7 After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he[bc] said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up[bd] against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right,[be] as my servant Job has. 8 So now take[bf] seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede[bg] for you, and I will respect him,[bh] so that I do not deal with you[bi] according to your folly,[bj] because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.”[bk]
9 So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the Lord had told them; and the Lord had respect for Job.[bl]
10 So the Lord[bm] restored what Job had lost[bn] after he prayed for his friends,[bo] and the Lord doubled[bp] all that had belonged to Job. 11 So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined[bq] with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver[br] and a gold ring.[bs]
12 So the Lord blessed the second part of Job’s life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons[bt] and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah,[bu] the second Keziah,[bv] and the third Keren-Happuch.[bw] 15 Nowhere in all the land could women be found who were as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance alongside their brothers.
16 After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, old and full of days.
22 The crowd joined the attack[a] against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes[b] off Paul and Silas[c] and ordered them to be beaten with rods.[d] 23 After they had beaten them severely,[e] they threw them into prison and commanded[f] the jailer to guard them securely. 24 Receiving such orders, he threw them in the inner cell[g] and fastened their feet in the stocks.[h]
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying[i] and singing hymns to God,[j] and the rest of[k] the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly a great earthquake occurred, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors flew open, and the bonds[l] of all the prisoners came loose. 27 When the jailer woke up[m] and saw the doors of the prison standing open,[n] he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,[o] because he assumed[p] the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul called out loudly,[q] “Do not harm yourself,[r] for we are all here!” 29 Calling for lights, the jailer[s] rushed in and fell down[t] trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside[u] and asked, “Sirs, what must[v] I do to be saved?” 31 They replied,[w] “Believe[x] in the Lord Jesus[y] and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then[z] they spoke the word of the Lord[aa] to him, along with all those who were in his house. 33 At[ab] that hour of the night he took them[ac] and washed their wounds;[ad] then[ae] he and all his family[af] were baptized right away.[ag] 34 The jailer[ah] brought them into his house and set food[ai] before them, and he rejoiced greatly[aj] that he had come to believe[ak] in God, together with his entire household.[al] 35 At daybreak[am] the magistrates[an] sent their police officers,[ao] saying, “Release those men.” 36 The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying,[ap] “The magistrates have sent orders[aq] to release you. So come out now and go in peace.”[ar] 37 But Paul said to the police officers,[as] “They had us beaten in public[at] without a proper trial[au]—even though we are Roman citizens[av]—and they threw us[aw] in prison. And now they want to send us away[ax] secretly? Absolutely not! They[ay] themselves must come and escort us out!”[az] 38 The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas[ba] were Roman citizens[bb] 39 and came[bc] and apologized to them. After[bd] they brought them out, they asked them repeatedly[be] to leave the city. 40 When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia’s house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then[bf] departed.
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