Job 40

1 Then Yahweh said to Job,

Yahweh continued to speak to Job; he said,

2 “Do you still want to argue with me, the Almighty One? Since you criticize me, (you should be able to answer my questions!/why are you not able to answer my questions?) [RHQ]”

“Should anyone who wishes to criticize try to correct the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer.”

3 Then Job replied to Yahweh,

Then Job answered Yahweh and said,

4 “[Now I realize that] I am completely worthless. So (how could I answer [those questions]?/I could not possibly answer [those questions]!) [RHQ] I will put my hand over my mouth [and not say anything].

“See, I am insignificant; how can I answer you? I put my hand over my mouth.

5 I have already said more than I should have said, so now I will say nothing more.”

I spoke once, and I will not answer; indeed, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

6 Then Yahweh [again] spoke to Job from inside the great windstorm. He said,

Then Yahweh answered Job out of a fierce storm and said,

7 “I want to ask you some [more] questions. So as men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare yourself again to answer some [more] questions.

“Now gird up your loins like a man, for I will ask you questions, and you must answer me.

8 “Are you going to accuse me and say that I am unjust? Are you going to say that what I have done is wrong, in order that you can say that what you have done is right?

Will you actually say that I am unjust? Will you condemn me so you may claim you are right?

9 Are you as powerful [MTY] as I am? Can your voice sound [as loud] as thunder, as mine can?

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

10 [If you can do that], put on the robes that show that you are glorious and are greatly honored!

Now clothe yourself in glory and dignity; array yourself in honor and majesty.

11 Show that you are very angry; show that you have the right/authority to humble people who are [very] proud!

Scatter around the excess of your anger; look at everyone who is proud and bring him down.

12 Humble those proud people [just] by looking at them [angrily] Crush wicked people quickly!

Look at everyone who is proud and bring him low; trample down wicked people where they stand.

13 Bury them in the ground! Send them to the place where dead people are, where they will not be able to get out!

Bury them in the earth together; imprison their faces in the hidden place.

14 After you do that, I will congratulate/praise you and say that [truly] you can save yourself by your own ability/power.

Then will I also acknowledge about you that your own right hand can save you.

15 “Think [also] about the huge animals that live near the water. I made you, and I made them also. They eat grass, like oxen do.

Look now at the behemoth, which I made when I made you; he eats grass like an ox.

16 Their legs/thighs are [very] strong, and the muscles of their bellies are [very] powerful.

See now, his strength is in his loins; his power is in his belly's muscles.

17 Their tails are stiff (OR, bend down) like the branches of a cedar tree. The sinews/muscles of their thighs are close together.

He makes his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are joined together.

18 Their [thigh] bones are [like] tubes [made] of bronze, and the bones of their legs are like bars [made] of iron.

His bones are like tubes of bronze; his legs are like bars of iron.

19 They are among the strongest of the animals that I made, and I, who created them, am the only one who can kill them.

He is the chief of the creatures of God. Only God, who made him, can defeat him.

20 On the hills grows food [PRS] for them to eat while many [HYP] other wild animals play nearby.

For the hills provide him with food; the beasts of the field play nearby.

21 They lie down [in the water] under the lotus plants; they hide in [tall] reeds in the swamps.

He lies under the lotus plants in the shelter of the reeds, in the marshes.

22 Those huge animals find shade under the lotus plants, and they are surrounded by poplar trees.

The lotus plants cover him with their shade; the willows of the brook are all around him.

23 They are not disturbed by raging/swiftly-flowing rivers; they are not even disturbed/frightened when [rivers like the] Jordan [River] rush over them.

See, if a river floods its banks, he does not tremble; he is confident, though the Jordan should surge up to his mouth.

24 No one can [RHQ] catch them by blinding their eyes or by piercing their noses with [the teeth of] a trap!”

Can anyone capture him with a hook, or pierce his nose through with a snare?