Job 40–42

1And the LORD said to Job:

2“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.”

3Then Job answered the LORD:

4“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.

5I have spoken once, but I have no answer— twice, but I have nothing to add.”

6Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

7“Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.

8Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?

9Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?

10Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and clothe yourself with honor and glory.

11Unleash the fury of your wrath; look on every proud man and bring him low.

12Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand.

13Bury them together in the dust; imprison them in the grave.

14Then I will confess to you that your own right hand can save you.

15Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you. He feeds on grass like an ox.

16See the strength of his loins and the power in the muscles of his belly.

17His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.

18His bones are tubes of bronze; his limbs are rods of iron.

19He is the foremost of God’s works; only his Maker can draw the sword against him.

20The hills yield him their produce, while all the beasts of the field play nearby.

21He lies under the lotus plants, hidden among the reeds of the marsh.

22The lotus plants conceal him in their shade; the willows of the brook surround him.

23Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid; he remains secure, though the Jordan surges to his mouth.

24Can anyone capture him as he looks on, or pierce his nose with a snare?

1“Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie down his tongue with a rope?

2Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?

3Will he beg you for mercy or speak to you softly?

4Will he make a covenant with you to take him as a slave for life?

5Can you pet him like a bird or put him on a leash for your maidens?

6Will traders barter for him or divide him among the merchants?

7Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?

8If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the battle and never repeat it!

9Surely hope of overcoming him is false. Is not the sight of him overwhelming?

10No one is so fierce as to rouse Leviathan. Then who is able to stand against Me?

11Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.

12I cannot keep silent about his limbs, his power and graceful form.

13Who can strip off his outer coat? Who can approach him with a bridle?

14Who can open his jaws, ringed by his fearsome teeth?

15His rows of scales are his pride, tightly sealed together.

16One scale is so near to another that no air can pass between them.

17They are joined to one another; they clasp and cannot be separated.

18His snorting flashes with light, and his eyes are like the rays of dawn.

19Firebrands stream from his mouth; fiery sparks shoot forth!

20Smoke billows from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.

21His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour from his mouth.

22Strength resides in his neck, and dismay leaps before him.

23The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.

24His chest is as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone!

25When Leviathan rises up, the mighty are terrified; they withdraw before his thrashing.

26The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or dart or arrow.

27He regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.

28No arrow can make him flee; slingstones become like chaff to him.

29A club is regarded as straw, and he laughs at the sound of the lance.

30His undersides are jagged potsherds, spreading out the mud like a threshing sledge.

31He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; he makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

32He leaves a glistening wake behind him; one would think the deep had white hair!

33Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature devoid of fear!

34He looks down on all the haughty; he is king over all the proud.”

1Then Job replied to the LORD:

2“I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.

3You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

4You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak. I will question you, and you shall inform Me.’

5My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You.

6Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.”

7After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.

8So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.”

9So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.

10After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions.

11All his brothers and sisters and prior acquaintances came and dined with him in his house. They consoled him and comforted him over all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him. And each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

12So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

13And he also had seven sons and three daughters.

14He named his first daughter Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch.

15No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance among their brothers.

16After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

17And so Job died, old and full of years.