Job 40
1 Then Yahweh said to Job,
Moreover Jehovah spake to 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 the censurer of the Almighty contend with him? Will the reprover of God answer?
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 vile! what can I answer thee? 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.”
Once have I spoken, but I will not speak again; Yea, twice, but I will say no more.
6 Then Yahweh [again] spoke to Job from inside the great windstorm. He said,
Then spake Jehovah to 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 now thy loins like a man! I will ask thee, and do thou instruct 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?
Wilt thou even disannul my right? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayst be righteous?
9 Are you as powerful [MTY] as I am? Can your voice sound [as loud] as thunder, as mine can?
Hast thou an arm like God's? Or canst thou thunder with thy 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 with grandeur and majesty, And array thyself in splendor and glory!
11 Show that you are very angry; show that you have the right/authority to humble people who are [very] proud!
Send forth the fury of thy wrath! Look upon every proud one, and abase him!
12 Humble those proud people [just] by looking at them [angrily] Crush wicked people quickly!
Look upon every proud one, and bring him low; Yea, tread down the wicked in their place!
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; Shut up their faces in darkness!
14 After you do that, I will congratulate/praise you and say that [truly] you can save yourself by your own ability/power.
Then, indeed, will I give thee the praise, 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 the river-horse, which I have made as well as thyself; He feedeth on grass like the ox.
16 Their legs/thighs are [very] strong, and the muscles of their bellies are [very] powerful.
Behold, what strength is in his loins! And what force 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 bendeth his tail, like the cedar, And the sinews of his thighs are twisted 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 pipes of brass, And his limbs are 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 chief among the works of God; He that made him gave him his sword.
20 On the hills grows food [PRS] for them to eat while many [HYP] other wild animals play nearby.
For the mountains supply him with 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 lieth down under the lote-plants, In the covert of reeds, and in the fens.
22 Those huge animals find shade under the lotus plants, and they are surrounded by poplar trees.
The lote-plants cover him with their shadow, And the willows of the brook compass 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.
Lo! the stream overfloweth, but he starteth not; He is unmoved though Jordan rush forth 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!”
Can one take him before his eyes, Or pierce his nose with hooks?
