Job 40
1 Then Yahweh said to Job,
Moreover Yahweh answered Job,
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 argues contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
3 Then Job replied to Yahweh,
Then Job answered Yahweh,
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 will I answer you? I lay my hand on 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 Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind:
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.
“Now brace yourself like a man. I will question you, and you will 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?
Will you even annul my judgment? Will you condemn me, that you may be justified?
9 Are you as powerful [MTY] as I am? Can your voice sound [as loud] as thunder, as mine can?
Or do you have an arm like God? Can you 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!
“Now deck yourself with excellency and dignity. Array yourself 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 out the fury of your anger. Look at everyone who is proud, and bring him low.
12 Humble those proud people [just] by looking at them [angrily] Crush wicked people quickly!
Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him. Crush 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. 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 admit to you that your own 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.
“See now behemoth, which I made as well as you. He eats grass as an ox.
16 Their legs/thighs are [very] strong, and the muscles of their bellies are [very] powerful.
Look now, his strength is in his thighs. 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 like tubes of bronze. 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 the chief 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 produce food for him, where all the animals 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 marsh.
22 Those huge animals find shade under the lotus plants, and they are surrounded by poplar trees.
The lotuses cover him with their shade. The willows of the brook surround him.
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 doesn’t tremble. He is confident, though the Jordan swells 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?
