Job 38 - 41 — Legacy Standard Bible

Yahweh Answers Job

38Then Yahweh ^aanswered Job out of the ¹whirlwind and said,

²“Who is this that ^adarkens counselBy words without knowledge?³“Now ^agird up your loins like a man,And ^bI will ask you, and you make Me know!⁴“Where were you ^awhen I laid the foundation of the earth?Tell Me, if you know understanding,⁵Who set its ^ameasurements? Since you know.Or who stretched the line on it?⁶“On what ^awere its bases sunk?Or who laid its cornerstone,⁷When the morning stars sang togetherAnd all the ^asons of God shouted for joy?⁸“Or who ^aenclosed the sea with doorsWhen, bursting forth, it went out from the womb,⁹When I made a cloud its garmentAnd dense gloom its swaddling band,¹⁰And I ¹^,^aplaced boundaries on itAnd set a bolt and doors,¹¹And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;And here shall your proud waves stop’?

Yahweh Answers Job, “Have You?”

¹²“Have you ¹ever in your life commanded the morning,And caused the dawn to know its place,¹³That it might seize ^athe ends of the earth,And ^bthe wicked be shaken out of it?¹⁴“It is changed like clay under the seal;And they stand forth like clothing.¹⁵“^aFrom the wicked their light is withheld,And the arm ^braised high is broken.¹⁶“Have you entered into ^athe springs of the seaOr walked ¹in the recesses of the deep?¹⁷“Have the gates of death been revealed to you,Or have you seen the gates of the ^ashadow of death?¹⁸“Have you carefully considered the ¹expanse of ^athe earth?Tell Me, if you know all this.¹⁹“Where is the way to where the light dwells?And darkness, where is its place,²⁰That you may take it to ^aits territoryAnd that you may discern the paths to its ¹home?²¹“You know, for ^ayou were born then,And the number of your days is great!²²“Have you entered the storehouses ^aof the snow,Or have you seen the storehouses of the ^bhail,²³Which I have reserved for the time of distress,For the day of war and battle?²⁴“Where is the way that ^athe light is divided,Or the east wind scattered on the earth?²⁵“Who has cleft a conduit for the flood,Or a way for the thunderbolt,²⁶To bring ^arain on a land without ¹people,On a desert without a man in it,²⁷To ^asatisfy the waste and desolate landAnd to make the growth of grass to sprout?²⁸“Has ^athe rain a father?Or who has begotten the drops of dew?²⁹“From whose womb has come the ^aice?And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?³⁰“Water ¹becomes hard like stone,And the surface of the deep ²is interlocked.³¹“Can you bind the chains of the ^aPleiades,Or loose the cords of Orion?³²“Can you lead forth a ¹constellation in its season,And guide the Bear with her ²satellites?³³“Do you know the ^astatutes of the heavens,Or fix their rule over the earth?³⁴“Can you raise your voice up to the clouds,So that an ^aabundance of water will cover you?³⁵“Can you ^asend forth lightnings that they may goAnd say to you, ‘Here we are’?³⁶“Who has ^agiven wisdom in the ¹innermost beingOr given ^bunderstanding to the ²mind?³⁷“Who can count the clouds by wisdom,Or ^atip the water jars of the heavens,³⁸When the dust hardens into a massAnd the clods stick together?

Yahweh Answers Job, “Where Were You?”

³⁹“Can you hunt the ^aprey for the lion,Or fulfill the appetite of the young lions,⁴⁰When they ^acrouch in their densAnd lie in wait in their lair?⁴¹“Who prepares for ^athe raven its provisionWhen its young cry for help to GodAnd wander about without food?39“Do you know the time the ¹^,^amountain goats give birth?Do you keep watch over the calving of the ^bdeer?²“Can you count the months they fulfill,Or do you know the time they give birth?³“They kneel down; they bring forth their young;They send out their labor pains.⁴“Their children become strong; they grow up in the open field;They leave and do not return to them.⁵“Who sent out the ^awild donkey free?And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,⁶For whom I have set ^athe desert plain as a homeAnd the salt land as his dwelling place?⁷“He laughs at the tumult of the city;The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.⁸“He explores the mountains for his pastureAnd searches after every green thing.⁹“Will the ^awild ox consent to serve you,Or will he spend the night at your manger?¹⁰“Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ¹ropes,Or will he harrow the valleys after you?¹¹“Will you trust him because his power is greatAnd leave your labor to him?¹²“Will you believe him that he will return your seed of grainAnd gather it from your threshing floor?¹³“The ostriches’ wings flap joyouslyBut are they the pinion and plumage of a ¹stork?¹⁴For she leaves her eggs to the earthAnd warms them in the dust,¹⁵And she forgets that a foot may crush ¹them,Or that a beast of the field may trample ²them.¹⁶“She treats her children ^acruelly, as if they were not hers;Though her labor be empty, she is without dread,¹⁷Because God has made her forget wisdom,And has not given her a share of understanding.¹⁸“When she raises herself up high,She laughs at the horse and his rider.¹⁹“Do you give the horse his might?Do you clothe his neck with a mane?²⁰“Do you make him ^aleap like the locust?His splendid ^bsnorting is terrible.²¹“¹He paws in the valley and rejoices in his power;He ^agoes out to meet the weapons.²²“He laughs at dread and is not dismayed;And he does not turn back from the sword.²³“The quiver rattles against him,The flashing spear and javelin.²⁴“With shaking and rage he ¹races over the ground,And he does not ²stand still at the sound of the trumpet.²⁵“As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’And he scents the battle from afar,And the thunder of the commanders and the shout of war.²⁶“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,Stretching his wings toward the south?²⁷“Is it at your ¹command that the eagle goes on highAnd raises ^ahis nest high?²⁸“On the cliff he dwells and lodges,Upon the rocky crag, a fortress.²⁹“From there he ¹^,^aspies out food;His eyes see it from afar.³⁰“His young ones also suck up blood;And ^awhere the slain are, there is he.”

Job Places His Hand over His Mouth

40Then Yahweh answered Job and said,

²“Will the faultfinder ^acontend with the Almighty?Let him who ^breproves God answer it.”

³Then Job answered Yahweh and said,

⁴“Behold, I am insignificant; what can I respond to You?I ^aplace my hand over my mouth.⁵“Once I have spoken, and ^aI will not answer;Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”

Yahweh Will Ask Job

⁶Then ^aYahweh answered Job out of the ¹whirlwind and said,

⁷“Now ^agird up your loins like a man;I will ^bask you, and you make Me know.⁸“Will you really ^aannul My judgment?Will you ^bcondemn Me ^cthat you may be justified?⁹“Or do you have an arm like God,And can you ^athunder with a voice like His?¹⁰“^aAdorn yourself with exaltation and loftiness,And clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.¹¹“Pour out ^athe overflowings of your anger,And look on everyone who is ^bproud, and make him low.¹²“Look on everyone who is proud, and ^ahumble him,And ^btread down the wicked ¹in their place.¹³“^aHide them in the dust together;Bind their faces in the hidden place.¹⁴“Then I will also praise you,That your own right hand can save you.

Behold the Behemoth

¹⁵“Behold now, ¹Behemoth, which ^aI made along with you;It eats grass like an ox.¹⁶“Behold now, its power in its loinsAnd its vigor in the muscles of its belly.¹⁷“It hangs its tail like a cedar;The sinews of its thighs are knit together.¹⁸“Its bones are tubes of bronze;Its ¹limbs are like bars of iron.¹⁹“It is the ^afirst of the ways of God;Let its ^bMaker bring near its sword.²⁰“Surely the mountains ^abring it food,And all the beasts of the field ^bplay there.²¹“Under the lotus plants it lies down,In the hidden place of the reeds and the marsh.²²“The lotus plants cover it with ¹shade;The willows of the brook surround it.²³“If a river oppresses, it is not alarmed;It is secure, though the ^aJordan bursts forth to its mouth.²⁴“Can anyone capture it before its eyes,With snares can anyone pierce its nose?

Can You Draw Out Leviathan?

41“¹Can you draw out ²^,^aLeviathan with a fishhook?Or press down its tongue with a cord?²“Can you ^aput a ¹rope in its noseOr pierce its jaw with a ²hook?³“Will it make many supplications to you,Or will he speak to you soft words?⁴“Will it cut a covenant with you?Will you take it for a slave forever?⁵“Will you play with it as with a bird,Or will you bind it for your young women?⁶“Will the ¹traders bargain over it?Will they divide it among the merchants?⁷“Can you fill its skin with harpoons,Or its head with fishing spears?⁸“Place your hand on it;Remember the battle; ¹you will not do that again!⁹“¹Behold, ²his expectation is a lie;Will ³he be laid low even at the sight of it?¹⁰“No one is so fierce that he dares to ^aarouse it;Who then is he that can stand before Me?¹¹“Who has ¹^,^agiven to Me that I should repay him?Whatever is ^bunder the whole heaven is Mine.¹²“I will not keep silence concerning its limbs,Or its mighty strength or its graceful frame.¹³“Who can ¹strip off its ²outer armor?Who can come with its doubled ³bridle?¹⁴“Who can open the doors of its face?Around its teeth there is dreadful terror.¹⁵“Its ¹strong scales are its pride,Shut up as with a tight seal.¹⁶“One is so near to anotherThat no air can come between them.¹⁷“They cling one to another;They are interlocked and cannot be separated.¹⁸“Its sneezes flash forth light,And its eyes are like the ^aeyelids of the morning.¹⁹“Out of its mouth go burning torches;Sparks of fire ¹leap forth.²⁰“Out of its nostrils smoke goes forthAs from a boiling pot and burning reeds.²¹“Its breath kindles coals,And a flame goes forth from its mouth.²²“In its neck lodges strength,And dismay leaps before it.²³“The folds of its flesh cling together,Hardened upon it and is not shaken.²⁴“Its heart is as hard as a stone,Even as hard as a lower millstone.²⁵“When it raises itself up, the ¹mighty fear,Because of the crashing they are ²bewildered.²⁶“The sword that reaches it cannot avail,Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.²⁷“It regards iron as straw,Bronze as rotten wood.²⁸“The ¹arrow cannot make it flee;Slingstones are turned into stubble for it.²⁹“Clubs are regarded as stubble;It laughs at the rattling of the javelin.³⁰“Its underparts are like sharp potsherds;It ¹spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.³¹“It makes the depths boil like a pot;It makes the sea like a jar of ointment.³²“Behind it, it makes a wake to shine;One would think the deep to be gray-haired.³³“^aThere is nothing upon the ¹dust like it,One made without terror.³⁴“¹It looks on everything that is high;It is king over all the ^asons of pride.”