Job (The Book of )

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

"Gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you declare to me.

Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified?

Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?

"Deck yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor.

Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on all who are proud, and abase them.

Look on all who are proud, and bring them low; tread down the wicked where they stand.

Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below.

Then I will also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can give you victory.

"Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you; it eats grass like an ox.

Its strength is in its loins, and its power in the muscles of its belly.

It makes its tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are knit together.

Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like bars of iron.

"It is the first of the great acts of God-- only its Maker can approach it with the sword.

For the mountains yield food for it where all the wild animals play.

Under the lotus plants it lies, in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.

The lotus trees cover it for shade; the willows of the wadi surround it.

Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened; it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.

Can one take it with hooks or pierce its nose with a snare?

Can you put a rope in its nose, or pierce its jaw with a hook?

Will it make many supplications to you? Will it speak soft words to you?

Will it make a covenant with you to be taken as your servant forever?

Will you play with it as with a bird, or will you put it on leash for your girls?

Will traders bargain over it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?

Can you fill its skin with harpoons, or its head with fishing spears?

Lay hands on it; think of the battle; you will not do it again!

Any hope of capturing it will be disappointed; were not even the gods overwhelmed at the sight of it?