Job 40:6-42
New Century Version
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job from the storm:
7 “Be strong, like a man!
I will ask you questions,
and you must answer me.
8 Would you say that I am unfair?
Would you blame me to make yourself look right?
9 Are you as strong as God?
Can your voice thunder like his?
10 If so, then decorate yourself with glory and beauty;
dress in honor and greatness as if they were clothing.
11 Let your great anger punish;
look at the proud and bring them down.
12 Look at the proud and make them humble.
Crush the wicked wherever they are.
13 Bury them all in the dirt together;
cover their faces in the grave.
14 If you can do that, then I myself will praise you,
because you are strong enough to save yourself.
15 “Look at Behemoth,[a]
which I made just as I made you.
It eats grass like an ox.
16 Look at the strength it has in its body;
the muscles of its stomach are powerful.
17 Its tail is like a cedar tree;
the muscles of its thighs are woven together.
18 Its bones are like tubes of bronze;
its legs are like bars of iron.
19 It is one of the first of God’s works,
but its Maker can destroy it.
20 The hills, where the wild animals play,
provide food for it.
21 It lies under the lotus plants,
hidden by the tall grass in the swamp.
22 The lotus plants hide it in their shadow;
the poplar trees by the streams surround it.
23 If the river floods, it will not be afraid;
it is safe even if the Jordan River rushes to its mouth.
24 Can anyone blind its eyes and capture it?
Can anyone put hooks in its nose?
41 “Can you catch Leviathan[b] on a fishhook
or tie its tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose
or a hook in its jaw?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy
and speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will it make an agreement with you
and let you take it as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of Leviathan as you would a bird
or put it on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders try to bargain with you for it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you stick darts all over its skin
or fill its head with fishing spears?
8 If you put one hand on it,
you will never forget the battle,
and you will never do it again!
9 There is no hope of defeating it;
just seeing it overwhelms people.
10 No one is brave enough to make it angry,
so who would be able to stand up against me?
11 No one has ever given me anything that I must pay back,
because everything under the sky belongs to me.
12 “I will speak about Leviathan’s arms and legs,
its great strength and well-formed body.
13 No one can tear off its outer hide
or poke through its double armor.
14 No one can force open its great jaws;
they are filled with frightening teeth.
15 It has rows of shields on its back
that are tightly sealed together.
16 Each shield is so close to the next one
that no air can go between them.
17 They are joined strongly to one another;
they hold on to each other and cannot be separated.
18 When it snorts, flashes of light are thrown out,
and its eyes look like the light at dawn.
19 Flames blaze from its mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours out of its nose,
as if coming from a large pot over a hot fire.
21 Its breath sets coals on fire,
and flames come out of its mouth.
22 There is great strength in its neck.
People are afraid and run away.
23 The folds of its skin are tightly joined;
they are set and cannot be moved.
24 Its chest is as hard as a rock,
even as hard as a grinding stone.
25 The powerful fear its terrible looks
and draw back in fear as it moves.
26 The sword that hits it does not hurt it,
nor the arrows, darts, and spears.
27 It treats iron as if it were straw
and bronze metal as if it were rotten wood.
28 It does not run away from arrows;
stones from slings are like chaff to it.
29 Clubs feel like pieces of straw to it,
and it laughs when they shake a spear at it.
30 The underside of its body is like broken pieces of pottery.
It leaves a trail in the mud like a threshing board.
31 It makes the deep sea bubble like a boiling pot;
it stirs up the sea like a pot of oil.
32 When it swims, it leaves a shining path in the water
that makes the sea look as if it had white hair.
33 Nothing else on earth is equal to it;
it is a creature without fear.
34 It looks down on all those who are too proud;
it is king over all proud creatures.”
Job Answers the Lord
42 Then Job answered the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things
and that no plan of yours can be ruined.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that made my purpose unclear by saying things that are not true?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand;
I talked of things too wonderful for me to know.
4 You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak.
I will ask you questions,
and you must answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you before,
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 So now I hate myself;
I will change my heart and life.
I will sit in the dust and ashes.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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