Job 40

1 Then Yahweh said to Job,

God continued speaking to Job.

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]”

“Are you still going to fight with the Almighty and try to set him straight? Anyone who argues with God must give some answers.”

3 Then Job replied to Yahweh,

Job answered the Lord,

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].

“Me—I am nothing at all. I have no answers. I put my hand in front of my mouth.

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

I have already said far too much and I won't say anything more.”

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

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,

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.

“Prepare yourself, be strong, for I am going to question you, 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?

Are you really going to say my decisions are wrong? Are you going to condemn me so you can be right?

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

Are you as powerful as I am? Does your voice thunder like mine?

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

Why don't you dress yourself with majesty and dignity, and clothe yourself with glory and splendor!

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

Let loose your fierce anger. Humble the proud with a glance.

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

Bring down the proud with your gaze; tread the wicked underfoot right where they are.

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 dust; lock them away in the grave.

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

Then I will also agree that your own strength 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.

Consider Behemoth, a creature I made just like I made you. It eats grass like cattle.

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

Look at its powerful loins, the muscles of its belly.

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

It bends its tail like a cedar; its thigh sinews are strong.

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

Its bones are like bronze tubes; its limbs like iron rods.

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.

It is the most important example of what God can do; only the one who made it can approach it with a sword.

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

The hills produce food for it, and all the wild animals play there.

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

It lies under the lotus; it hides in the reeds of the marsh.

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

The lotus covers it with shade; the willow trees of the valley surround it.

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.

Even if the river is in flood, it is not concerned; it remains calm when the Jordan river surges against it.

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

No one can catch it while it is watching, or pierce its nose with a noose.