May 28 Job 38-42

38Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.


4‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone
7when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings* shouted for joy?


8‘Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb?—
9when I made the clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10and prescribed bounds for it,
and set bars and doors,
11and said, “Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stopped”?


12‘Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
13so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14It is changed like clay under the seal,
and it is dyed* like a garment.
15Light is withheld from the wicked,
and their uplifted arm is broken.


16‘Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.


19‘Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
20that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21Surely you know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!


22‘Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
24What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?


25‘Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a way for the thunderbolt,
26to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
on the desert, which is empty of human life,
27to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground put forth grass?


28‘Has the rain a father,
or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the hoar-frost of heaven?
30The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.


31‘Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,
or loose the cords of Orion?
32Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?


34‘Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of waters may cover you?
35Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
and say to you, “Here we are”?
36Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,*
or given understanding to the mind?*
37Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods cling together?


39‘Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40when they crouch in their dens,
or lie in wait in their covert?
41Who provides for the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God,
and wander about for lack of food?


39‘Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe the calving of the deer?
2Can you number the months that they fulfil,
and do you know the time when they give birth,
3when they crouch to give birth to their offspring,
and are delivered of their young?
4Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open;
they go forth, and do not return to them.


5‘Who has let the wild ass go free?
Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
6to which I have given the steppe for its home,
the salt land for its dwelling-place?
7It scorns the tumult of the city;
it does not hear the shouts of the driver.
8It ranges the mountains as its pasture,
and it searches after every green thing.


9‘Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
Will it spend the night at your crib?
10Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes,
or will it harrow the valleys after you?
11Will you depend on it because its strength is great,
and will you hand over your labour to it?
12Do you have faith in it that it will return,
and bring your grain to your threshing-floor?*


13‘The ostrich’s wings flap wildly,
though its pinions lack plumage.*
14For it leaves its eggs to the earth,
and lets them be warmed on the ground,
15forgetting that a foot may crush them,
and that a wild animal may trample them.
16It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own;
though its labour should be in vain, yet it has no fear;
17because God has made it forget wisdom,
and given it no share in understanding.
18When it spreads its plumes aloft,*
it laughs at the horse and its rider.


19‘Do you give the horse its might?
Do you clothe its neck with mane?
20Do you make it leap like the locust?
Its majestic snorting is terrible.
21It paws* violently, exults mightily;
it goes out to meet the weapons.
22It laughs at fear, and is not dismayed;
it does not turn back from the sword.
23Upon it rattle the quiver,
the flashing spear, and the javelin.
24With fierceness and rage it swallows the ground;
it cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
25When the trumpet sounds, it says “Aha!”
From a distance it smells the battle,
the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.


26‘Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars,
and spreads its wings towards the south?
27Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
and makes its nest on high?
28It lives on the rock and makes its home
in the fastness of the rocky crag.
29From there it spies the prey;
its eyes see it from far away.
30Its young ones suck up blood;
and where the slain are, there it is.’


40And the Lord said to Job:
2‘Shall a fault-finder contend with the Almighty?*
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 Job6 Then 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.*
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 hooks*
or pierce its nose with a snare?


41*‘Can you draw out Leviathan* with a fish-hook,
or press down its tongue with a cord?
2Can you put a rope in its nose,
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3Will it make many supplications to you?
Will it speak soft words to you?
4Will it make a covenant with you
to be taken as your servant for ever?
5Will you play with it as with a bird,
or will you put it on a leash for your girls?
6Will traders bargain over it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7Can you fill its skin with harpoons,
or its head with fishing-spears?
8Lay hands on it;
think of the battle; you will not do it again!
9*Any hope of capturing it* will be disappointed;
were not even the gods* overwhelmed at the sight of it?
10No one is so fierce as to dare to stir it up.
Who can stand before it?*
11Who can confront it* and be safe?*
—under the whole heaven, who?*


12‘I will not keep silence concerning its limbs,
or its mighty strength, or its splendid frame.
13Who can strip off its outer garment?
Who can penetrate its double coat of mail?*
14Who can open the doors of its face?
There is terror all around its teeth.
15Its back* is made of shields in rows,
shut up closely as with a seal.
16One is so near to another
that no air can come between them.
17They are joined one to another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18Its sneezes flash forth light,
and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
19From its mouth go flaming torches;
sparks of fire leap out.
20Out of its nostrils comes smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21Its breath kindles coals,
and a flame comes out of its mouth.
22In its neck abides strength,
and terror dances before it.
23The folds of its flesh cling together;
it is firmly cast and immovable.
24Its heart is as hard as stone,
as hard as the lower millstone.
25When it raises itself up the gods are afraid;
at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26Though the sword reaches it, it does not avail,
nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27It counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28The arrow cannot make it flee;
slingstones, for it, are turned to chaff.
29Clubs are counted as chaff;
it laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30Its underparts are like sharp potsherds;
it spreads itself like a threshing-sledge on the mire.
31It makes the deep boil like a pot;
it makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32It leaves a shining wake behind it;
one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33On earth it has no equal,
a creature without fear.
34It surveys everything that is lofty;
it is king over all that are proud.’


Job Is Humbled and Satisfied42Then Job answered the Lord:
2‘I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3“Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?”
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4“Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you declare to me.”
5I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.’


Job’s Friends Are Humiliated7 After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: ‘My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has done.’ 9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
Job’s Fortunes Are Restored Twofold10 And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money* and a gold ring. 12The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. 13He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16After this Job lived for one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children’s children, four generations. 17And Job died, old and full of days.