Lesson 9: Job
SCRIPTURES
All Scripture passages here are from the NET Bible; used by permission.
Job chapter 1
1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was pure and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 1:2 Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 1:3 His possessions included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys; in addition he had a very great household. Thus he was the greatest of all the people in the east. 1:4 Now his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one in turn, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 1:5 When the days of their feasting were finished, Job would send for them and sanctify them; he would get up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s customary practice. 1:6 Now the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD – and Satan also arrived among them. 1:7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” And Satan answered the LORD, “From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it.” 1:8 So the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil.” 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, “Is it for nothing that Job fears God? 1:10 Have you not made a hedge around him and his household and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the land. 1:11 But extend your hand and strike everything he has, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!” 1:12 So the LORD said to Satan, “All right then, everything he has is in your power. Only do not extend your hand against the man himself!” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. 1:13 Now the day came when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 1:14 and a messenger came to Job, saying, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing beside them, 1:15 and the Sabeans swooped down and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!” 1:16 While this one was still speaking, another messenger arrived and said, “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and has burned up the sheep and the servants – it has consumed them! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!” 1:17 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!” 1:18 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 1:19 and suddenly a great wind swept across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!” 1:20 Then Job got up and tore his robe. He shaved his head, and then he threw himself down with his face to the ground. 1:21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away. May the name of the LORD be blessed!” 1:22 In all this Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with moral impropriety.
Job 2:1-10
2:1 Again the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also arrived among them to present himself before the LORD. 2:2 And the LORD said to Satan, “Where do you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it.” 2:3 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly to his integrity, so that you stirred me up to destroy him without reason.” 2:4 But Satan answered the LORD, “Skin for skin! Indeed, a man will give up all that he has to save his life! 2:5 But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!” 2:6 So the LORD said to Satan, “All right, he is in your power; only preserve his life.” 2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and he afflicted Job with a malignant ulcer from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. 2:8 Job took a shard of broken pottery to scrape himself with while he was sitting among the ashes. 2:9 Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God, and die!” 2:10 But he replied, “You’re talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?” In all this Job did not sin by what he said.
Job 2:11-13 & chapters 4, 8, 11, 32; Job 16:2
2:11 When Job’s three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country – Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to come to show sympathy for him and to console him. 2:12 But when they gazed intently from a distance but did not recognize him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads. 2:13 Then they sat down with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, yet no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
(Job chapter 4) 4:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite an-swered: 4:2 “If someone should attempt a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can refrain from speaking? 4:3 Look, you have instructed many; you have strengthened feeble hands. 4:4 Your words have supported those who stumbled, and you have strengthened the knees that gave way. 4:5 But now the same thing comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are terrified. 4:6 Is not your piety your confidence, and your blameless ways your hope? 4:7 Call to mind now: Who, being innocent, ever perished? And where were upright people ever destroyed? 4:8 Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same. 4:9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed. 4:10 There is the roaring of the lion and the growling of the young lion, but the teeth of the young lions are broken. 4:11 The mighty lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered. 4:12 “Now a word was secretly brought to me, and my ear caught a whisper of it. 4:13 In the troubling thoughts of the dreams in the night when a deep sleep falls on men, 4:14 a trembling gripped me – and a terror! – and made all my bones shake. 4:15 Then a breath of air passes by my face; it makes the hair of my flesh stand up. 4:16 It stands still, but I cannot recognize its appearance; an image is before my eyes, and I hear a murmuring voice: 4:17 “Is a mortal man righteous before God? Or a man pure before his Creator? 4:18 If God puts no trust in his servants and attributes folly to his angels, 4:19 how much more to those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth? 4:20 They are destroyed between morning and evening; they perish forever without anyone regarding it. 4:21 Is not their excess wealth taken away from them? They die, yet without attaining wisdom.
(Job chapter 8) 8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said: 8:2 “How long will you speak these things, seeing that the words of your mouth are like a great wind? 8:3 Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right? 8:4 If your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin. 8:5 But if you will look to God, and make your supplication to the Almighty, 8:6 if you become pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself for you, and will restore your righteous abode. 8:7 Your beginning will seem so small, since your future will flourish. 8:8 “For inquire now of the former generation, and pay attention to the findings of their ancestors; 8:9 For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge, since our days on earth are but a shadow. 8:10 Will they not instruct you and speak to you, and bring forth words from their understanding? 8:11 Can the papyrus plant grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish without water? 8:12 While they are still beginning to flower and not ripe for cutting, they can wither away faster than any grass! 8:13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; the hope of the godless perishes, 8:14 whose trust is in something futile, whose security is a spider’s web. 8:15 He leans against his house but it does not hold up, he takes hold of it but it does not stand. 8:16 He is a well-watered plant in the sun, its shoots spread over its garden. 8:17 It wraps its roots around a heap of stones and it looks for a place among stones. 8:18 If he is uprooted from his place, then that place will disown him, saying, ‘I have never seen you!’ 8:19 Indeed, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth others spring up. 8:20 “Surely, God does not reject a blameless man, nor does he grasp the hand of the evildoers. 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with gladness. 8:22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”
(Job chapter 11) 11:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite spoke up and said: 11:2 “Should not this abundance of words be answered, or should this talkative man be vindicated? 11:3 Will your idle talk reduce people to silence, and will no one rebuke you when you mock? 11:4 For you have said, ‘My teaching is flawless, and I am pure in your sight.’ 11:5 But if only God would speak, if only he would open his lips against you, 11:6 and reveal to you the secrets of wisdom – for true wisdom has two sides – so that you would know that God has forgiven some of your sins. 11:7 “Can you discover the essence of God? Can you find out the perfection of the Almighty? 11:8 It is higher than the heavens – what can you do? It is deeper than Sheol – what can you know? 11:9 Its measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. 11:10 If he comes by and confines you and convenes a court, then who can prevent him? 11:11 For he knows deceitful men; when he sees evil, will he not consider it? 11:12 But an empty man will become wise, when a wild donkey’s colt is born a human being. 11:13 “As for you, if you prove faithful, and if you stretch out your hands toward him, 11:14 if iniquity is in your hand – put it far away, and do not let evil reside in your tents. 11:15 For then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be securely established and will not fear. 11:16 For you will forget your trouble; you will remember it like water that has flowed away. 11:17 And life will be brighter than the noonday; though there be darkness, it will be like the morning. 11:18 And you will be secure, because there is hope; you will be protected and will take your rest in safety. 11:19 You will lie down with no one to make you afraid, and many will seek your favor. 11:20 But the eyes of the wicked fail, and escape eludes them; their one hope is to breathe their last.”
(Job chapter 32) 32:1 So these three men refused to answer Job further, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 32:2 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry. He was angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. 32:3 With Job’s three friends he was also angry, because they could not find an answer, and so declared Job guilty. 32:4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job, because the others were older than he was. 32:5 But when Elihu saw that the three men had no further reply, he became very angry. 32:6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up: “I am young, but you are elderly; that is why I was fearful, and afraid to explain to you what I know. 32:7 I said to myself, ‘Age should speak, and length of years should make wisdom known.’ 32:8 But it is a spirit in people, the breath of the Almighty, that makes them understand. 32:9 It is not the aged who are wise, nor old men who understand what is right. 32:10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me. I, even I, will explain what I know.’ 32:11 Look, I waited for you to speak; I listened closely to your wise thoughts,while you were searching for words. 32:12 Now I was paying you close attention, yet there was no one proving Job wrong, not one of you was answering his statements! 32:13 So do not say, ‘We have found wisdom! God will refute him, not man!’ 32:14 Job has not directed his words to me, and so I will not reply to him with your arguments. 32:15 “They are dismayed and cannot answer any more; they have nothing left to say. 32:16 And I have waited. But because they do not speak, because they stand there and answer no more, 32:17 I too will answer my part, I too will explain what I know. 32:18 For I am full of words, and the spirit within me constrains me. 32:19 Inside I am like wine which has no outlet, like new wineskins ready to burst! 32:20 I will speak, so that I may find relief; I will open my lips, so that I may answer. 32:21 I will not show partiality to anyone, nor will I confer a title on any man. 32:22 for I do not know how to give honorary titles, if I did, my Creator would quickly do away with me.
(Job 16:2) I have heard many things like these before. What miserable comforters are you all!
Job chapters 6 & 7
6:1 Then Job responded: 6:2 “Oh, if only my grief could be weighed, and my misfortune laid on the scales too! 6:3 But because it is heavier than the sand of the sea, that is why my words have been wild. 6:4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; my spirit drinks their poison; God’s sudden terrors are arrayed against me. 6:5 “Does the wild donkey bray when it is near grass? Or does the ox low near its fodder? 6:6 Can food that is tasteless be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? 6:7 I have refused to touch such things; they are like loathsome food to me. 6:8 “Oh that my request would be realized, and that God would grant me what I long for! 6:9 And that God would be willing to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and kill me. 6:10 Then I would yet have my comfort, then I would rejoice, in spite of pitiless pain, for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One. 6:11 What is my strength, that I should wait? and what is my end, that I should prolong my life? 6:12 Is my strength like that of stones? or is my flesh made of bronze? 6:13 Is not my power to help myself nothing, and has not every resource been driven from me? 6:14 “To the one in despair, kindness should come from his friend even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. 6:15 My brothers have been as treacherous as a seasonal stream, and as the riverbeds of the intermittent streams that flow away. 6:16 They are dark because of ice; snow is piled up over them. 6:17 When they are scorched, they dry up, when it is hot, they vanish from their place. 6:18 Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish. 6:19 The caravans of Tema looked intently for these streams; the traveling merchants of Sheba hoped for them. 6:20 They were distressed, because each one had been so confident; they arrived there, but were disappointed. 6:21 For now you have become like these streams that are no help; you see a terror, and are afraid. 6:22 “Have I ever said, ‘Give me something, and from your fortune make gifts in my favor’? 6:23 Or ‘Deliver me from the enemy’s power, and from the hand of tyrants ransom me’? 6:24 “Teach me and I, for my part, will be silent; explain to me how I have been mistaken. 6:25 How painful are honest words! But what does your reproof prove? 6:26 Do you intend to criticize mere words, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind? 6:27 Yes, you would gamble for the fatherless, and auction off your friend. 6:28 “Now then, be good enough to look at me; and I will not lie to your face! 6:29 Relent, let there be no falsehood; reconsider, for my righteousness is intact! 6:30 Is there any falsehood on my lips? Can my mouth not discern evil things?
(Job chapter 7) 7:1 “Does not humanity have hard service on earth? Are not their days also like the days of a hired man? 7:2 Like a servant longing for the evening shadow, and like a hired man looking for his wages, 7:3 thus I have been made to inherit months of futility, and nights of sorrow have been appointed to me. 7:4 If I lie down, I say, ‘When will I arise?’, and the night stretches on and I toss and turn restlessly until the day dawns. 7:5 My body is clothed with worms and dirty scabs; my skin is broken and festering. 7:6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and they come to an end without hope. 7:7 Remember that my life is but a breath, that my eyes will never again see happiness. 7:8 The eye of him who sees me now will see me no more; your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone. 7:9 As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again. 7:10 He returns no more to his house, nor does his place of residence know him any more. 7:11 “Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 7:12 Am I the sea, or the creature of the deep, that you must put me under guard? 7:13 If I say, “My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,” 7:14 then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions, 7:15 so that I would prefer strangling, and death more than life. 7:16 I loathe it; I do not want to live forever; leave me alone, for my days are a vapor! 7:17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them, and that you pay attention to them? 7:18 And that you visit them every morning, and try them every moment? 7:19 Will you never look away from me, will you not let me alone long enough to swallow my spittle? 7:20 If I have sinned – what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you set me as your target? Have I become a burden to you? 7:21 And why do you not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust, and you will seek me diligently, but I will be gone.”
Job 3:1-19
3:1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. 3:2 Job spoke up and said: 3:3 “Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night that said, ‘A man has been conceived!’ 3:4 That day – let it be darkness; let not God on high regard it, nor let light shine on it! 3:5 Let darkness and the deepest shadow claim it; let a cloud settle on it; let whatever blackens the day terrify it! 3:6 That night – let darkness seize it; let it not be included among the days of the year; let it not enter among the number of the months! 3:7 Indeed, let that night be barren; let no shout of joy penetrate it! 3:8 Let those who curse the day curse it – those who are prepared to rouse Leviathan. 3:9 Let its morning stars be darkened; let it wait for daylight but find none, nor let it see the first rays of dawn, 3:10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb on me, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes! 3:11 “Why did I not die at birth, and why did I not expire as I came out of the womb? 3:12 Why did the knees welcome me, and why were there two breasts that I might nurse at them? 3:13 For now I would be lying down and would be quiet, I would be asleep and then at peace 3:14 with kings and counselors of the earth who built for themselves places now desolate, 3:15 or with princes who possessed gold, who filled their palaces with silver. 3:16 Or why was I not buried like a stillborn infant, like infants who have never seen the light? 3:17 There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. 3:18 There the prisoners relax together; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. 3:19 Small and great are there, and the slave is free from his master.
Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5
1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, “Is it for nothing that Job fears God? 1:10 Have you not made a hedge around him and his household and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the land. 1:11 But extend your hand and strike everything he has, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!”
(Job 2:4-5) 2:4 But Satan answered the LORD, “Skin for skin! Indeed, a man will give up all that he has to save his life! 2:5 But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!”
Job 42:3-4
42:3 you asked, ‘Who is this who darkens counsel without knowledge?’ But I have declared without understanding things too wonderful for me to know. 42:4 You said, ‘Pay attention, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.’
Job 42:5
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you.
Job 42:6
Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes!
Job 42:7
After the LORD had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has."
Job 42:10
So the LORD restored what Job had lost after he prayed for his friends, and the LORD doubled all that had belonged to Job.
Job 42:13-15
42:13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 42:14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-Happuch. 42:15 Nowhere in all the land could women be found who were as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance alongside their brothers.
Job chapters 38 to 41
38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: 38:2 “Who is this who darkens counsel with words without knowledge? 38:3 Get ready for a difficult task like a man; I will question you and you will inform me! 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding! 38:5 Who set its measurements – if you know – or who stretched a measuring line across it? 38:6 On what were its bases set, or who laid its cornerstone – 38:7 when the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 38:8 “Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst forth, coming out of the womb, 38:9 when I made the storm clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, 38:10 when I prescribed its limits, and set in place its bolts and doors, 38:11 when I said, ‘To here you may come and no farther, here your proud waves will be confined’? 38:12 Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, or made the dawn know its place, 38:13 that it might seize the corners of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it? 38:14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features are dyed like a garment. 38:15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm raised in violence is broken. 38:16 Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea, or walked about in the recesses of the deep? 38:17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness? 38:18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know it all! 38:19 “In what direction does light reside, and darkness, where is its place, 38:20 that you may take them to their borders and perceive the pathways to their homes? 38:21 You know, for you were born before them; and the number of your days is great! 38:22 Have you entered the storehouse of the snow, or seen the armory of the hail, 38:23 which I reserve for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle? 38:24 In what direction is lightning dispersed, or the east winds scattered over the earth? 38:25 Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains, and a path for the rumble of thunder, 38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, a desert where there are no human beings, 38:27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land, and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? 38:28 Does the rain have a father, or who has fathered the drops of the dew? 38:29 From whose womb does the ice emerge, and the frost from the sky, who gives birth to it, 38:30 when the waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen solid? 38:31 Can you tie the bands of the Pleiades, or release the cords of Orion? 38:32 Can you lead out the constellations in their seasons, or guide the Bear with its cubs? 38:33 Do you know the laws of the heavens, or can you set up their rule over the earth? 38:34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds so that a flood of water covers you? 38:35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go? Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’? 38:36 Who has put wisdom in the heart, or has imparted understanding to the mind? 38:37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds, and who can tip over the water jars of heaven, 38:38 when the dust hardens into a mass, and the clumps of earth stick together? 38:39 “Do you hunt prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of the lions, 38:40 when they crouch in their dens, when they wait in ambush in the thicket? 38:41 Who prepares prey for the raven, when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?
(Job chapter 39) 39:1 “Are you acquainted with the way the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young? 39:2 Do you count the months they must fulfill, and do you know the time they give birth? 39:3 They crouch, they bear their young, they bring forth the offspring they have carried. 39:4 Their young grow strong, and grow up in the open; they go off, and do not return to them. 39:5 Who let the wild donkey go free? Who released the bonds of the donkey, 39:6 to whom I appointed the steppe for its home, the salt wastes as its dwelling place? 39:7 It scorns the tumult in the town; it does not hear the shouts of a driver. 39:8 It ranges the hills as its pasture, and searches after every green plant. 39:9 Is the wild ox willing to be your servant? Will it spend the night at your feeding trough? 39:10 Can you bind the wild ox to a furrow with its rope, will it till the valleys, following after you? 39:11 Will you rely on it because its strength is great? Will you commit your labor to it? 39:12 Can you count on it to bring in your grain, and gather the grain to your threshing floor? 39:13 “The wings of the ostrich flap with joy, but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork? 39:14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and lets them be warmed on the soil. 39:15 She forgets that a foot might crush them, or that a wild animal might trample them. 39:16 She is harsh with her young, as if they were not hers; she is unconcerned about the uselessness of her labor. 39:17 For God deprived her of wisdom, and did not impart understanding to her. 39:18 But as soon as she springs up, she laughs at the horse and its rider. 39:19 “Do you give the horse its strength? Do you clothe its neck with a mane? 39:20 Do you make it leap like a locust? Its proud neighing is terrifying! 39:21 It paws the ground in the valley, exulting mightily, it goes out to meet the weapons. 39:22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed; it does not shy away from the sword. 39:23 On it the quiver rattles; the lance and javelin flash. 39:24 In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet is blown. 39:25 At the sound of the trumpet, it says, ‘Aha!’ And from a distance it catches the scent of battle, the thunderous shouting of commanders, and the battle cries. 39:26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south? 39:27 Is it at your command that the eagle soars, and builds its nest on high? 39:28 It lives on a rock and spends the night there, on a rocky crag and a fortress. 39:29 From there it spots its prey, its eyes gaze intently from a distance. 39:30 And its young ones devour the blood, and where the dead carcasses are, there it is.”
(Job chapter 40) 40:1 Then the LORD answered Job: 40:2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!” 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD: 40:4 “Indeed, I am completely unworthy – how could I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself. 40:5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer; twice, but I will say no more.” 40:6 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind: 40:7 “Get ready for a difficult task like a man. I will question you and you will inform me! 40:8 Would you indeed annul my justice? Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right? 40:9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s, and can you thunder with a voice like his? 40:10 Adorn yourself, then, with majesty and excellency, and clothe yourself with glory and honor! 40:11 Scatter abroad the abundance of your anger. Look at every proud man and bring him low; 40:12 Look at every proud man and abase him; crush the wicked on the spot! 40:13 Hide them in the dust together, imprison them in the grave. 40:14 Then I myself will acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you. 40:15 “Look now at Behemoth, which I made as I made you; it eats grass like the ox. 40:16 Look at its strength in its loins, and its power in the muscles of its belly. 40:17 It makes its tail stiff like a cedar, the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound. 40:18 Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like bars of iron. 40:19 It ranks first among the works of God, the One who made it has furnished it with a sword. 40:20 For the hills bring it food, where all the wild animals play. 40:21 Under the lotus trees it lies, in the secrecy of the reeds and the marsh. 40:22 The lotus trees conceal it in their shadow; the poplars by the stream conceal it. 40:23 If the river rages, it is not disturbed, it is secure, though the Jordan should surge up to its mouth. 40:24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes, or pierce its nose with a snare?
(Job chapter 41) 41:1 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook, and tie down its tongue with a rope? 41:2 Can you put a cord through its nose, or pierce its jaw with a hook? 41:3 Will it make numerous supplications to you, will it speak to you with tender words? 41:4 Will it make a pact with you, so you could take it as your slave for life? 41:5 Can you play with it, like a bird, or tie it on a leash for your girls? 41:6 Will partners bargain for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? 41:7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears? 41:8 If you lay your hand on it, you will remember the fight, and you will never do it again! 41:9 See, his expectation is wrong, he is laid low even at the sight of it. 41:10 Is it not fierce when it is awakened? Who is he, then, who can stand before it? 41:11 (Who has confronted me that I should repay? Everything under heaven belongs to me!) 41:12 I will not keep silent about its limbs, and the extent of its might, and the grace of its arrangement. 41:13 Who can uncover its outer covering? Who can penetrate to the inside of its armor? 41:14 Who can open the doors of its mouth? Its teeth all around are fearsome. 41:15 Its back has rows of shields, shut up closely together as with a seal; 41:16 each one is so close to the next that no air can come between them. 41:17 They lock tightly together, one to the next; they cling together and cannot be separated. 41:18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the red glow of dawn. 41:19 Out of its mouth go flames, sparks of fire shoot forth! 41:20 Smoke streams from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning rushes. 41:21 Its breath sets coals ablaze and a flame shoots from its mouth. 41:22 Strength lodges in its neck, and despair runs before it. 41:23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm on it, immovable. 41:24 Its heart is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. 41:25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified, at its thrashing about they withdraw. 41:26 Whoever strikes it with a sword will have no effect, nor with the spear, arrow, or dart. 41:27 It regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood. 41:28 Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones become like chaff to it. 41:29 A club is counted as a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. 41:30 Its underparts are the sharp points of potsherds, it leaves its mark in the mud like a threshing sledge. 41:31 It makes the deep boil like a cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment, 41:32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had a head of white hair. 41:33 The likes of it is not on earth, a creature without fear. 41:34 It looks on every haughty being; it is king over all that are proud.”
Job 42:1-6
42:1 Then Job answered the LORD: 42:2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted; 42:3 you asked, ‘Who is this who darkens counsel without knowledge?’ But I have declared without understanding things too wonderful for me to know. 42:4 You said, ‘Pay attention, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.’ 42:5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you. 42:6 Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes!
Job 23:3-7
23:3 O that I knew where I might find him, that I could come to his place of residence! 23:4 I would lay out my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. 23:5 I would know with what words he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. 23:6 Would he contend with me with great power? No, he would only pay attention to me. 23:7 There an upright person could present his case before him, and I would be delivered forever from my judge.
Job 42:7-17
42:7 After the LORD had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has. 42:8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 42:9 So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the LORD had told them; and the LORD had respect for Job. 42:10 So the LORD restored what Job had lost after he prayed for his friends, and the LORD doubled all that had belonged to Job. 42:11 So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the LORD had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. 42:12 So the LORD blessed the second part of Job’s life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 42:13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 42:14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-Happuch. 42:15 Nowhere in all the land could women be found who were as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance alongside their brothers. 42:16 After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 42:17 And so Job died, old and full of days.
