40 Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said:

² “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?He who rebukes God, let him answer it.”

Job’s Response to God

³ Then Job answered the Lord and said:

⁴ “Behold, I am vile;What shall I answer You?I lay my hand over my mouth.⁵ Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

God’s Challenge to Job

⁶ Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:

⁷ “Now prepare yourself like a man;I will question you, and you shall answer Me:

⁸ “Would you indeed annul My judgment?Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?⁹ Have you an arm like God?Or can you thunder with a voice like His?¹⁰ Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,And array yourself with glory and beauty.¹¹ Disperse the rage of your wrath;Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him.¹² Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low;Tread down the wicked in their place.¹³ Hide them in the dust together,Bind their faces in hidden darkness.¹⁴ Then I will also confess to youThat your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵ “Look now at the behemoth,^[a] which I made along with you;He eats grass like an ox.¹⁶ See now, his strength is in his hips,And his power is in his stomach muscles.¹⁷ He moves his tail like a cedar;The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.¹⁸ His bones are like beams of bronze,His ribs like bars of iron.¹⁹ He is the first of the ways of God;Only He who made him can bring near His sword.²⁰ Surely the mountains yield food for him,And all the beasts of the field play there.²¹ He lies under the lotus trees,In a covert of reeds and marsh.²² The lotus trees cover him with their shade;The willows by the brook surround him.²³ Indeed the river may rage,Yet he is not disturbed;He is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth,²⁴ Though he takes it in his eyes,Or one pierces his nose with a snare.