Job 40
1 Then Yahweh said to Job,
Moreover Jehovah answered Job, and said,
2 “Do you still want to argue with me, the Almighty One? Since you criticize me, (you should be able to answer my questions!/why are you not able to answer my questions?) [RHQ]”
Shall he who quibbles contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.
3 Then Job replied to Yahweh,
Then Job answered Jehovah, and said,
4 “[Now I realize that] I am completely worthless. So (how could I answer [those questions]?/I could not possibly answer [those questions]!) [RHQ] I will put my hand over my mouth [and not say anything].
Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer thee? I lay my hand upon my mouth.
5 I have already said more than I should have said, so now I will say nothing more.”
I have spoken once, and I will not answer, yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.
6 Then Yahweh [again] spoke to Job from inside the great windstorm. He said,
Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
7 “I want to ask you some [more] questions. So as men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare yourself again to answer some [more] questions.
Gird up thy loins now like a man. I will demand of thee, and declare thou to me.
8 “Are you going to accuse me and say that I am unjust? Are you going to say that what I have done is wrong, in order that you can say that what you have done is right?
Will thou even annul my judgment? Will thou condemn me, that thou may be justified?
9 Are you as powerful [MTY] as I am? Can your voice sound [as loud] as thunder, as mine can?
Or have thou an arm like God? And can thou thunder with a voice like him?
10 [If you can do that], put on the robes that show that you are glorious and are greatly honored!
Deck thyself now with excellency and dignity, and array thyself with honor and majesty.
11 Show that you are very angry; show that you have the right/authority to humble people who are [very] proud!
Pour forth the overflowings of thine anger, and look upon everyone who is proud, and abase him.
12 Humble those proud people [just] by looking at them [angrily] Crush wicked people quickly!
Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low, and tread down the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them in the ground! Send them to the place where dead people are, where they will not be able to get out!
Hide them in the dust together. Bind their faces in the hidden place.
14 After you do that, I will congratulate/praise you and say that [truly] you can save yourself by your own ability/power.
Then I will also confess of thee that thine own right hand can save thee.
15 “Think [also] about the huge animals that live near the water. I made you, and I made them also. They eat grass, like oxen do.
Behold now behemoth, which I made as well as thee. He eats grass as an ox.
16 Their legs/thighs are [very] strong, and the muscles of their bellies are [very] powerful.
Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the muscles of his belly.
17 Their tails are stiff (OR, bend down) like the branches of a cedar tree. The sinews/muscles of their thighs are close together.
He moves his tail like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 Their [thigh] bones are [like] tubes [made] of bronze, and the bones of their legs are like bars [made] of iron.
His bones are as tubes of brass. His limbs are like bars of iron.
19 They are among the strongest of the animals that I made, and I, who created them, am the only one who can kill them.
He is a beginning of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword.
20 On the hills grows food [PRS] for them to eat while many [HYP] other wild animals play nearby.
Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
21 They lie down [in the water] under the lotus plants; they hide in [tall] reeds in the swamps.
He lies under the lotus trees, in the covert of the reed, and the fen.
22 Those huge animals find shade under the lotus plants, and they are surrounded by poplar trees.
The lotus trees cover him with their shade. The willows of the brook encompass him about.
23 They are not disturbed by raging/swiftly-flowing rivers; they are not even disturbed/frightened when [rivers like the] Jordan [River] rush over them.
Behold, if a river overflows, he does not tremble. He is confident though a Jordan swell even to his mouth.
24 No one can [RHQ] catch them by blinding their eyes or by piercing their noses with [the teeth of] a trap!”
Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare?
