The Reading
Job 40
Then Yahweh answered Job and said,
"Shall a faultfinder contend with Shaddai?
Anyone who argues with God must answer it."
So Job answered Yahweh and said,
"Look, I am insignificant.
What shall I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
Once I have spoken, and I will not answer;
even twice, but I will not proceed."
Then Yahweh answered Job from the storm, and he said,
"Prepare yourself for a difficult task like a man,
and I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
"Indeed, would you annul my justice?
Would you condemn me, so that you might be righteous?
Or do you have an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
Adorn yourself with pride and dignity,
and clothe yourself with splendor.
Pour out the overflowing of your anger,
and look at all the proud, and humble them.
Look at all the proud, humble them,
and tread down the wicked where they stand.
Hide them in the dust together;
bind their faces in the grave.
And I will also praise you,
that your own right hand can save you.
"Look, Behemoth, which I have made just as I made you;
it eats grass like the ox.
Look, its strength is in its loins
and its power in the muscles of its stomach.
It keeps its tail straight like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound.
Its bones are tubes of copper,
its limbs like rods of iron.
"It is the first of God's actions;
the one who made him furnishes it with his sword.
Yes, the mountains yield produce for it,
and all wild animals play there.
Under the lotus tree it lies,
in the hiding place of the reeds and in the marsh.
The lotus trees cover it with their shade;
the wadi's poplar trees surround it.
Look, if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened;
it is confident even though the Jordan rushes against its mouth.
Can anyone take it by its eyes?
Can he pierce its nose with a snare?
Job 41
"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?
Or can you tie down its mouth with a cord?
Can you put a rope in its nose?
Or can you pierce its jawbone with a hook?
Will it make numerous pleas for mercy to you?
Or will it speak gentle words to you?
Will it make a covenant with you?
Will you take it as a slave forever?
Will you play with it as with birds
and put it on a leash for your girls?
Will guildsmen bargain over it?
Will they divide it between tradesmen?
Can you fill its kin with harpoons
or its head with fish spears?
Lay your hands on it;
think about the battle—you will not do it again!
"Look, the hope of capturing it is false.
Will one be hurled down even at its sight?
Is it not fierce when somebody stirs it?
Who then is he who would stand before it?
Who has come to confront me, that I should repay him?
Under all the heavens, it belongs to me.
"I will not keep quiet concerning its limbs
or concerning the extent of its might and the gracefulness of its frame.
Who can strip off its outer covering?
Who can penetrate its double harness?
Who can open the doors of its face?
Its teeth all around are fearsome.
Its back has scales of shields;
it is shut up closely as with a seal.
They are close to one another—
even the air cannot come between them.
They are joined one to another;
they cling together and cannot be separated.
"Its snorting flashes forth light,
and its eyes are red like dawn.
Torches go from its mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.
Smoke comes from its nostrils
as from a kettle boiling and burning bulrushes.
Its breath kindles charcoal,
and a flame comes from its mouth.
"Strength abides in its neck,
and dismay dances before it.
Its flesh's folds of skin cling together;
it is cast on it—it will not be moved.
Its heart is cast as stone;
yes, it is cast as the lower millstone.
When it raises itself, the mighty ones are terrified;
they retreat because of its thrashing.
Reaching it with the sword does not avail,
nor with the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
It regards iron as straw,
bronze as rotten wood.