Elihu Proclaims God’s Majesty
37 “At this also my heart trembles
and leaps out of its place.
2 Keep listening to the thunder of his voice
and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
and his ilightning to the jcorners of the earth.
4 After it khis voice roars;
lhe thunders with his majestic voice,
and he does not restrain the lightnings1 when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders wondrously with his voice;
he does mgreat things that we cannot ncomprehend.
6 For to othe snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’
likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.
7 He pseals up the hand of every man,
that all men whom he made may qknow it.
8 Then the beasts go into their rlairs,
and remain in their sdens.
9 From tits chamber ucomes the whirlwind,
and vcold from the scattering winds.
10 By the breath of God wice is given,
and xthe broad waters are frozen fast.
11 He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
the clouds scatter his lightning.
12 They yturn around and around by his zguidance,
zto accomplish all that he commands them
on the face of athe habitable world.
13 Whether for bcorrection or for his cland
or for dlove, he causes it to happen.
14 “Hear this, O Job;
stop and econsider the wondrous works of God.
15 Do you know how God lays his command upon them
and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
16 Do you know the balancings2 of the clouds,
the wondrous works of him who is fperfect in knowledge,
17 you whose garments are hot
when the earth is still because of the south wind?
18 Can you, like him, gspread out the skies,
hard as a cast metal hmirror?
19 Teach us what we shall say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of idarkness.
20 Shall it be told him that I would speak?
Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?
21 “And now no one looks on the light
when it is bright in the skies,
when the wind has passed and cleared them.
22 Out of the north comes golden splendor;
God is clothed with jawesome majesty.
23 The Almighty—we kcannot find him;
he is lgreat in power;
mjustice and abundant righteousness he will not nviolate.
24 Therefore men ofear him;
he does not regard any who are pwise in their own conceit.”3
The Lord Answers Job
38 Then the Lord qanswered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
2 “Who is this that rdarkens counsel by words swithout knowledge?
3 tDress for action1 like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
4 “Where were you when I ulaid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars vsang together
8 “Or who yshut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
9 when I made clouds its garment
and zthick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed alimits for it
and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your bproud waves be stayed’?
12 “Have you ccommanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 that it might take hold of dthe skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be eshaken out of it?
14 It is changed like clay under the seal,
and its features stand out like a garment.
15 From the wicked their flight is withheld,
and gtheir uplifted arm is broken.
16 “Have you hentered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have ithe gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of jdeep darkness?
18 Have 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,
20 that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern kthe paths to its home?
21 You know, for lyou were born then,
and the number of your days is great!
22 “Have you entered mthe storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen mthe storehouses of the hail,
23 which I have reserved nfor the time of trouble,
nfor the day of battle and war?
24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
25 “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
and oa way for the thunderbolt,
26 to bring rain on pa land where no man is,
on qthe desert in which there is no man,
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground sprout with rgrass?
28 “Has sthe rain a father,
or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb did tthe ice come forth,
and who has given birth to tthe frost of heaven?
30 The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is ufrozen.
31 “Can you bind the chains of vthe Pleiades
or loose the cords of vOrion?
32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth2 in their season,
or can you guide vthe Bear with its children?
33 Do you know wthe ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
that xa flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has yput wisdom in zthe inward parts3
or given understanding to the mind?4
37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 when the dust runs into a mass
and athe clods stick fast together?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or bsatisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their cdens
or lie in wait din their thicket?
41 Who provides for ethe raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God for help,
and wander about for lack of food?
39 “Do you know when fthe mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe gthe calving of the does?
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill,
and do you know the time when they give birth,
3 when they hcrouch, bring forth their offspring,
and are delivered of their young?
4 Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;
they go out and ido not return to them.
5 “Who has let the wild donkey go free?
Who has jloosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
6 to whom I have given kthe arid plain for his home
and lthe salt land for his dwelling place?
7 He scorns the tumult of the city;
he hears not the shouts of the driver.
8 He ranges the mountains as his pasture,
and he searches after every green thing.
9 “Is mthe wild ox willing to serve you?
Will he spend the night at your nmanger?
10 Can you bind mhim in the furrow with ropes,
or will he harrow the valleys after you?
11 Will you depend on him because his strength is great,
and will you leave to him your labor?
12 Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,
but are they the pinions and plumage of love?1
14 For she leaves her eggs to the earth
and lets them be warmed on the ground,
15 forgetting that a foot may crush them
and that the wild beast may trample them.
16 She odeals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;
though her plabor be in vain, yet she has no fear,
17 because God has made her forget wisdom
and qgiven her no share in understanding.
18 When she rouses herself to flee,2
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 leap like the locust?
His majestic rsnorting is terrifying.
21 He paws3 in the valley and exults in his strength;
he sgoes out to meet the weapons.
22 He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
he does not turn back from the sword.
23 Upon him rattle the quiver,
the flashing spear, and the javelin.
24 With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground;
he cannot stand still at tthe sound of the trumpet.
25 When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’
He smells the battle from afar,
the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars
and spreads his wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
and makes his unest on high?
28 On the rock he dwells and makes his home,
on vthe rocky crag and stronghold.
29 From there he spies out the prey;
his eyes behold it from far away.
30 His young ones suck up blood,
and wwhere the slain are, there is he.”
40 And the Lord xsaid to Job:
2 “Shall a faultfinder ycontend with the Almighty?
He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
Job Promises Silence
3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
4 “Behold, I am zof small account; what shall I answer you?
aI lay my hand on my mouth.
5 I have spoken bonce, and I will not answer;
btwice, but I will proceed no further.”
The Lord Challenges Job
6 Then the Lord canswered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
7 d“Dress for action1 like a man;
eI will question you, and you make it known to me.
8 Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that fyou may be in the right?
9 Have you gan arm like God,
and can you thunder with ha voice like his?
10 “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
iclothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on everyone who is jproud and abase him.
12 Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
and ktread down the wicked lwhere they stand.
13 mHide them all in nthe dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.2
14 Then will I also acknowledge to you
that your own oright hand can save you.
15 “Behold, Behemoth,3
which I made as I made you;
he eats pgrass like an ox.
16 Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
19 “He is qthe first of rthe works4 of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
20 For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beasts play.
21 Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of sthe reeds and in the marsh.
22 For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
23 Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24 Can one take him by his eyes,5
or pierce his nose with a snare?
41 1 “Can you draw out uLeviathan2 with a fishhook
or press down his tongue with a cord?
2 Can you put va rope in his nose
or pierce his jaw with va hook?
3 Will he make many pleas to you?
Will he speak to you soft words?
4 Will he make a covenant with you
to take him for wyour servant forever?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay your hands on him;
remember the battle—you will not do it again!
9 3 Behold, the hope of a man is false;
he is laid low even at the sight of him.
10 No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.
Who then is he who can stand before me?
11 xWho has first given to me, that I should repay him?
yWhatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
13 Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who would come near him with a bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.
15 His back is made of4 rows of shields,
shut up closely as with a seal.
16 One is so near to another
that no air can come between them.
17 They are zjoined one to another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezings flash forth light,
and his eyes are like athe eyelids of the dawn.
19 Out of his mouth go flaming torches;
sparks of fire leap forth.
20 Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 His breath bkindles coals,
and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
22 In his neck abides strength,
and terror dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh cstick together,
firmly cast on him and immovable.
24 His heart is hard as a stone,
hard as the lower millstone.
25 When he raises himself up, the mighty5 are afraid;
at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26 Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,
nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 He counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee;
for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.
29 Clubs are counted as stubble;
he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30 His underparts are like sharp dpotsherds;
he spreads himself like ea threshing sledge on the mire.
31 He makes the deep boil like a pot;
he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 Behind him he leaves a shining wake;
one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33 fOn earth there is not his like,
a creature without fear.
34 He sees everything that is high;
he is king over all the gsons of pride.”
