fbpx

Job – Chapter 40

Books of The Bible / Book of Job

1 Still speaking to Job, Yahweh said:

2 Is Yahweh’s opponent going to give way? Has God’s critic thought up an answer?

3 Job replied to Yahweh:

4 My words have been frivolous: what can I reply? I had better lay my hand over my mouth.

5 I have spoken once, I shall not speak again; I have spoken twice, I have nothing more to say.

6 Yahweh gave Job his answer from the heart of the tempest. He said:

7 Brace yourself like a fighter, I am going to ask the questions, and you are to inform me!

8 Do you really want to reverse my judgement, put me in the wrong and yourself in the right?

9 Has your arm the strength of God’s, can your voice thunder as loud?

10 Come on, display your majesty and grandeur, robe yourself in splendour and glory.

11 Let the fury of your anger burst forth, humble the haughty at a glance!

12 At a glance, bring down all the proud, strike down the wicked where they stand.

13 Bury the lot of them in the ground, shut them, every one, in the Dungeon.

14 And I shall be the first to pay you homage, since your own right hand is strong enough to save you.

15 But look at Behemoth, my creature, just as you are! He feeds on greenstuff like the ox,

16 but what strength he has in his loins, what power in his stomach muscles!

17 His tail is as stiff as a cedar, the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.

18 His bones are bronze tubes, his frame like forged iron.

19 He is the first of the works of God. His Maker threatened him with the sword,

20 forbidding him the mountain regions and all the wild animals that play there.

21 Under the lotus he lies, he hides among the reeds in the swamps.

22 The leaves of the lotus give him shade, the willows by the stream shelter him.

23 If the river overflows, he does not worry: Jordan might come up to his mouth, but he would not care.

24 Who is going to catch him by the eyes or put poles through his nose?

25 Leviathan, too! Can you catch him with a fish-hook or hold his tongue down with a rope?

26 Can you put a cane through his nostrils or pierce his jaw with a hook?

27 Will he plead lengthily with you, addressing you in diffident tones?

28 Will he strike a bargain with you to become your slave for life?

29 Will you make a pet of him, like a bird, keep him on a lead to amuse your little girls?

30 Is he to be sold by the fishing guild and then retailed by merchants?

31 Riddle his hide with darts? Or his head with fishing spears?

32 You have only to lay a finger on him never to forget the struggle or risk it again!