¹ Then¹ Yahweh answered Job and said,

1. Hebrew “And”

Job Responds to Yahweh

² “Shall a faultfinder contend with Shaddai? Anyone who argues with God must answer it.”

³ So Job answered Yahweh and said,

⁴ “Look, I am insignificant. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.

Yahweh Challenges Job Again

⁵ Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; even¹ twice, but² I will not proceed.”

1. Hebrew “And”
2. Or “and”

⁶ Then¹ Yahweh answered Job from the storm, and he said,

1. Or “And”

Yahweh Interrogates Job Again

⁷ “⌞Prepare yourself for a difficult task like a man⌟,¹ and I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

1. Literally “Gird up like a man your loins”

⁸ “Indeed, would you annul my justice? Would you condemn me, so that you might be righteous?

⁹ Or do you have an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?

¹⁰ Adorn¹ yourself with pride and dignity, and clothe yourself with splendor.

1. The particle sometimes translated “please” is present, but an almighty God or sovereign king does not say “please” when commanding his subjects

¹¹ Pour out the overflowing of your anger, and look at all the proud, and humble them.

¹² Look at all the proud, humble them, and tread down the wicked ⌞where they stand⌟.¹

1. Literally “in place of them”

¹³ Hide them in the dust together; bind their faces in the grave.

¹⁴ And I will also praise you, that your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵ “Look, Behemoth,¹ which I have made just as I made you; it eats grass like the ox.

1. Some interpret as a hippopotamus

¹⁶ Look, its strength is in its loins and its power in the muscles of its stomach.

¹⁷ It keeps its tail straight like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound.

¹⁸ Its bones are tubes of copper, its limbs like rods of iron.

¹⁹ “It is the first of God’s actions; the one who made him furnishes it with his sword.¹

1. See NET; nearly all other English translations: “Only his Maker can draw the sword against him” (NJPS; compare NLT), or “only its Maker can approach it with the sword” (NRSV, NIV, ESV, HCSB, NASU)

²⁰ Yes, the mountains yield produce for it, and all ⌞wild animals⌟¹ play there.

1. Literally “all the animals of the field”

²¹ Under the lotus tree it lies, in the hiding place of the reeds and in the marsh.

²² The lotus trees cover it with their shade; the wadi’s¹ poplar trees surround it.

1. A seasonal stream that is often dry

²³ Look, if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened; it is confident even though the Jordan rushes against its mouth.

²⁴ Can anyone take it by its eyes? Can he pierce its nose with a snare?