Study Desk

The Lord answered Job:

Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? Let him who argues with God give an answer.^[a]

Then Job answered the Lord :

I am so insignificant. How can I answer You?^(a) I place my hand over my mouth.

I have spoken once, and I will not reply; twice, but now I can add nothing.^(b)

Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:^(c)

Get ready to answer Me like a man; When I question^(d) you, you will inform Me.

Would you really challenge My justice? Would you declare Me guilty^(e) to justify yourself?^(f)

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

Adorn yourself with majesty^(g) and splendor, and clothe yourself with honor and glory.

Unleash your raging anger;^(h) look on every proud person and humiliate him.⁽ⁱ⁾

Look on every proud person and humble him;^(j) trample the wicked where they stand.^[b]

Hide them together in the dust; imprison them in the grave.^[c]

Then I will confess to you that your own right hand^(k) can deliver you.^(l)

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

Look at the strength of his loins and the power in the muscles of his belly.

He stiffens his tail like a cedar tree; the tendons of his thighs are woven firmly together.

His bones are bronze tubes; his limbs are like iron rods.

He is the foremost of God's works;^(m) only his Maker can draw the sword against him.

The hills yield food for him, while all sorts of wild animals play there.

He lies under the lotus plants, hiding in the protection^[d] of marshy reeds.

Lotus plants cover him with their shade; the willows by the brook surround him.

Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid; he remains confident, even if the Jordan surges up to his mouth.

Can anyone capture him while he looks on,^[e] or pierce his nose with snares?

^[a]Can you pull in Leviathan^(a) with a hook^(b) or tie his tongue down with a rope?

Can you put a cord^[b] through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?^(c)

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

Will he make a covenant with you so that you can take him as a slave forever?^(d)

Can you play with him like a bird or put him on a leash^[c] for your girls?

Will traders bargain for him or divide him among the merchants?

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

Lay a^[d] hand on him. You will remember the battle and never repeat it!

^[e]Any hope of capturing him proves false. Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him?

No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan;^(e) who then can stand against Me?

Who confronted Me, that I should repay him? Everything under heaven belongs to Me.^(f)

I cannot be silent about his limbs, his power, and his graceful proportions.

Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double layer of armor?^[f](g)

Who can open his jaws,^[g] surrounded by those terrifying teeth?

His pride is in his rows of scales, closely sealed together.

One scale is so close to another^[h] that no air can pass between them.

They are joined to one another, so closely connected^[i] they cannot be separated.

His snorting^[j] flashes with light, while his eyes are like the rays^[k] of dawn.

Flaming torches shoot from his mouth; fiery sparks fly out!

Smoke billows from his nostrils^(h) as from a boiling pot or burning reeds.

His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour out of his mouth.

Strength resides in his neck, and dismay dances before him.

The folds of his flesh are joined together, solid as metal^[l] and immovable.

His heart is as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone!

When Leviathan rises, the mighty^[m] are terrified; they withdraw because of his thrashing.

The sword that reaches him will have no effect, nor will a spear, dart, or arrow.

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

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

A club is regarded as stubble, and he laughs⁽ⁱ⁾ at the sound of a javelin.

His undersides are jagged potsherds, spreading the mud like a threshing sledge.^(j)

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

He leaves a shining wake behind him;^[n] one would think the deep had gray hair!

He has no equal on earth— a creature devoid of fear!

He surveys everything that is haughty; he is king over all the proud beasts.^[o]

Then Job replied to the Lord :

I^[a] know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted.^(a)

You asked, "Who is this who conceals My counsel with ignorance?"^(b) Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to^[b] know.^(c)

You said, "Listen now, and I will speak. When I question^(d) you, you will inform Me."

I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes^(e) have seen You.

Therefore I take back my words and repent in dust and ashes.^[c]

After the Lord had finished speaking^[d] to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has.

Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you.^(f) I will surely accept his prayer and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has."

Then 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.

After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his prosperity and doubled his previous possessions.^(g)

All his brothers, sisters, and former acquaintances^(h) came to his house and dined with him in his house. They sympathized with him and comforted him concerning all the adversity the Lord had brought on him. Each one gave him a qesitah^[e](i) and a gold earring.^(j)

So the Lord blessed the last part of Job's life more than the first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

He also had seven sons and three daughters.

He named his first daughter Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch.^(k)

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

Job lived 140 years after this and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

Then Job died, old and full of days.^(l)