1And the LORD said to Job:

2‘Shall a fault-finder contend with the Almighty?40.2 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai

Anyone who argues with God must respond.’

Job's Response to God

3Then Job answered the LORD:

4‘See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?

I lay my hand on my mouth.

5I have spoken once, and I will not answer;

twice, but will proceed no further.’

God's Challenge to Job

6Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

7‘Gird up your loins like a man;

I will question you, and you declare to me.

8Will you even put me in the wrong?

Will you condemn me that you may be justified?

9Have you an arm like God,

and can you thunder with a voice like his?

10‘Deck yourself with majesty and dignity;

clothe yourself with glory and splendour.

11Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

and look on all who are proud, and abase them.

12Look on all who are proud, and bring them low;

tread down the wicked where they stand.

13Hide them all in the dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.40.13 Heb the hidden place

14Then I will also acknowledge to you

that your own right hand can give you victory.

15‘Look at Behemoth,

which I made just as I made you;

it eats grass like an ox.

16Its strength is in its loins,

and its power in the muscles of its belly.

17It makes its tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of its thighs are knit together.

18Its bones are tubes of bronze,

its limbs like bars of iron.

19‘It is the first of the great acts of God—

only its Maker can approach it with the sword.

20For the mountains yield food for it

where all the wild animals play.

21Under the lotus plants it lies,

in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.

22The lotus trees cover it for shade;

the willows of the wadi surround it.

23Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened;

it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.

24Can one take it with hooks40.24 Cn: Heb in his eyes

or pierce its nose with a snare?