< Job 40 >

1 Then Yahweh said to Job,
And Jehovah doth answer Job, and saith: —
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]”
Is the striver with the Mighty instructed? The reprover of God, let him answer it.
3 Then Job replied to Yahweh,
And Job answereth Jehovah, and saith: —
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].
Lo, I have been vile, What do I return to Thee? My hand I have placed on my mouth.
5 I have already said more than I should have said, so now I will say nothing more.”
Once I have spoken, and I answer not, And twice, and I add not.
6 Then Yahweh [again] spoke to Job from inside the great windstorm. He said,
And Jehovah answereth Job out of the whirlwind, and saith: —
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, I pray thee, as a man, thy loins, I ask thee, and cause thou Me to know.
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?
Dost thou also make void My judgment? Dost thou condemn Me, That thou mayest be righteous?
9 Are you as powerful [MTY] as I am? Can your voice sound [as loud] as thunder, as mine can?
And an arm like God hast thou? And with a voice like Him dost thou thunder?
10 [If you can do that], put on the robes that show that you are glorious and are greatly honored!
Put on, I pray thee, excellency and loftiness, Yea, honour and beauty put on.
11 Show that you are very angry; show that you have the right/authority to humble people who are [very] proud!
Scatter abroad the wrath of thine anger, And see every proud one, and make him low.
12 Humble those proud people [just] by looking at them [angrily] Crush wicked people quickly!
See every proud one — humble him, And 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, Their faces bind in secret.
14 After you do that, I will congratulate/praise you and say that [truly] you can save yourself by your own ability/power.
And even I — I do praise thee, For thy right hand giveth salvation to 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.
Lo, I pray thee, Behemoth, that I made with thee: Grass as an ox he eateth.
16 Their legs/thighs are [very] strong, and the muscles of their bellies are [very] powerful.
Lo, I pray thee, his power [is] in his loins, And his strength 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 doth bend his tail as a cedar, The sinews of his thighs 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 bones [are] tubes of brass, His bones [are] as a bar 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, His Maker bringeth nigh his sword;
20 On the hills grows food [PRS] for them to eat while many [HYP] other wild animals play nearby.
For food do mountains bear for him, And all the beasts of the field play there.
21 They lie down [in the water] under the lotus plants; they hide in [tall] reeds in the swamps.
Under shades he lieth down, In a secret place of reed and mire.
22 Those huge animals find shade under the lotus plants, and they are surrounded by poplar trees.
Cover him do shades, [with] their shadow, Cover him do willows of the brook.
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, a flood oppresseth — he doth not haste, He is confident though Jordan Doth come forth unto his mouth.
24 No one can [RHQ] catch them by blinding their eyes or by piercing their noses with [the teeth of] a trap!”
Before his eyes doth [one] take him, With snares doth [one] pierce the nose?

< Job 40 >