Job 40
1 Moreover Jehovah spake to Job, and said:
And the Lord God answered Job, and said,
2 Will the censurer of the Almighty contend with him? Will the reprover of God answer?
Will [any one] pervert judgment with the Mighty One? and he that reproves God, let him return it for answer.
3 Then Job answered Jehovah, and said:
And Job answered and said to the Lord,
4 Behold, I am vile! what can I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.
Why do I yet plead? being rebuked even while reproving the Lord: hearing such things, whereas I am nothing: and what shall I answer to these [arguments]? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.
5 Once have I spoken, but I will not speak again; Yea, twice, but I will say no more.
I have spoken once; but I will not do so a second time.
6 Then spake Jehovah to Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
And the Lord yet again answered and spoke to Job out of the cloud, [saying],
7 Gird up now thy loins like a man! I will ask thee, and do thou instruct me!
Nay, gird up now thy loins like a man; and I will ask thee, and do thou answer me.
8 Wilt thou even disannul my right? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayst be righteous?
Do not set aside my judgment: and dost thou think that I have dealt with thee in any other way, than that thou mightest appear to be righteous?
9 Hast thou an arm like God's? Or canst thou thunder with thy voice like him?
Hast thou an arm like the Lord's? or dost thou thunder with a voice like his?
10 Deck thyself with grandeur and majesty, And array thyself in splendor and glory!
Assume now a lofty bearing and power; and clothe thyself with glory and honour.
11 Send forth the fury of thy wrath! Look upon every proud one, and abase him!
And send forth messengers with wrath; and lay low every haughty one.
12 Look upon every proud one, and bring him low; Yea, tread down the wicked in their place!
Bring down also the proud man; and consume at once the ungodly.
13 Hide them in the dust together; Shut up their faces in darkness!
And hide them together in the earth; and fill their faces with shame.
14 Then, indeed, will I give thee the praise, That thine own right hand can save thee.
[Then] will I confess that thy right hand can save [thee].
15 Behold the river-horse, which I have made as well as thyself; He feedeth on grass like the ox.
But now look at the wild beasts with thee; they eat grass like oxen.
16 Behold, what strength is in his loins! And what force in the muscles of his belly!
Behold now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
17 He bendeth his tail, like the cedar, And the sinews of his thighs are twisted together.
He sets up his tail like a cypress; and his nerves are wrapped together.
18 His bones are pipes of brass, And his limbs are bars of iron.
His sides are sides of brass; and his backbone is [as] cast iron.
19 He is chief among the works of God; He that made him gave him his sword.
This is the chief of the creation of the Lord; made to be played with by his angels.
20 For the mountains supply him with food, Where all the beasts of the field play.
And when he has gone up to a steep mountain, he causes joy to the quadrupeds in the deep.
21 He lieth down under the lote-plants, In the covert of reeds, and in the fens.
He lies under trees of every kind, by the papyrus, and reed, and bulrush.
22 The lote-plants cover him with their shadow, And the willows of the brook compass him about.
And the great trees make a shadow over him with their branches, and [so do] the bushes of the field.
23 Lo! the stream overfloweth, but he starteth not; He is unmoved though Jordan rush forth even to his mouth.
If there should be a flood, he will not perceive it; he trust that Jordan will rush up into his mouth.
24 Can one take him before his eyes, Or pierce his nose with hooks?
[Yet one] shall take him in his sight; [one] shall catch [him] with a cord, and pierce his nose.
