Job 40
1 Then Yahweh said to Job,
And the Lord God 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]”
Will [any one] pervert judgment with the Mighty One? and he that reproves God, let him return it for answer.
3 Then Job replied to Yahweh,
And Job answered and said to the Lord,
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].
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 I have already said more than I should have said, so now I will say nothing more.”
I have spoken once; but I will not do so a second time.
6 Then Yahweh [again] spoke to Job from inside the great windstorm. He said,
And the Lord yet again answered and spoke to Job out of the cloud, [saying],
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.
Nay, gird up now your loins like a man; and I will ask you, and do you answer 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?
Do not set aside my judgment: and do you think that I have dealt with you in any other way, than that you might appear to be righteous?
9 Are you as powerful [MTY] as I am? Can your voice sound [as loud] as thunder, as mine can?
Hast you an arm like the Lord's? or do you thunder with a voice like his?
10 [If you can do that], put on the robes that show that you are glorious and are greatly honored!
Assume now a lofty bearing and power; and clothe yourself with glory and honor.
11 Show that you are very angry; show that you have the right/authority to humble people who are [very] proud!
And send forth messengers with wrath; and lay low every haughty one.
12 Humble those proud people [just] by looking at them [angrily] Crush wicked people quickly!
Bring down also the proud man; and consume at once the ungodly.
13 Bury them in the ground! Send them to the place where dead people are, where they will not be able to get out!
And hide them together in the earth; and fill their faces with shame.
14 After you do that, I will congratulate/praise you and say that [truly] you can save yourself by your own ability/power.
[Then] will I confess that your right hand can save [you].
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.
But now look at the wild beasts with you; they eat grass like oxen.
16 Their legs/thighs are [very] strong, and the muscles of their bellies are [very] powerful.
Behold now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel 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 sets up his tail like a cypress; and his nerves are wrapped together.
18 Their [thigh] bones are [like] tubes [made] of bronze, and the bones of their legs are like bars [made] of iron.
His sides are sides of brass; and his backbone is [as] cast 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.
This is the chief of the creation of the Lord; made to be played with by his angels.
20 On the hills grows food [PRS] for them to eat while many [HYP] other wild animals play nearby.
And when he has gone up to a steep mountain, he causes joy to the quadrupeds in the deep.
21 They lie down [in the water] under the lotus plants; they hide in [tall] reeds in the swamps.
He lies under trees of every kind, by the papyrus, and reed, and bulrush.
22 Those huge animals find shade under the lotus plants, and they are surrounded by poplar trees.
And the great trees make a shadow over him with their branches, and [so do] the bushes of the field.
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.
If there should be a flood, he will not perceive it; he trust that Jordan will rush up into his mouth.
24 No one can [RHQ] catch them by blinding their eyes or by piercing their noses with [the teeth of] a trap!”
[Yet one] shall take him in his sight; [one] shall catch [him] with a cord, and pierce his nose.
