Chronological Plan

¹Then the LORD said to Job,

²“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who rebukes God give an answer.”

³Then Job answered the LORD and said,

⁴“Behold, I am insignificant; what can I say in response to You? I put my hand on my mouth.

⁵I have spoken once, and I will not reply; Or twice, and I will add nothing more.”

⁶Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind and said,

⁷“Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me.

⁸Will you really nullify My judgment? Will you condemn Me so that you may be justified?

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

¹⁰“Adorn yourself with pride and dignity, And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.

¹¹Let out your outbursts of anger, And look at everyone who is arrogant, and humble him.

¹²Look at everyone who is arrogant, and humble him, And trample down the wicked where they stand.

¹³Hide them together in the dust; Imprison them in the hidden place.

¹⁴Then I will also confess to you, That your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵“Behold, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶Behold, his strength in his waist, And his power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He hangs his tail like a cedar; The tendons of his thighs are knit together.

¹⁸His bones are tubes of bronze; His limbs are like bars of iron.

¹⁹“He is the first of the ways of God; Let his Maker bring His sword near.

²⁰Indeed the mountains bring him food, And all the animals of the field play there.

²¹He lies down under the lotus plants, In the hiding place of the reeds and the marsh.

²²The lotus plants cover him with shade; The willows of the brook surround him.

²³If a river rages, he is not alarmed; He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth.

²⁴Can anyone capture him when he is on watch, Can anyone pierce his nose with barbs?

¹“Can you drag out Leviathan with a fishhook, And press down his tongue with a rope?

²Can you put a rope in his nose, And pierce his jaw with a hook?

³Will he make many pleas to you, Or will he speak to you gentle words?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him as a servant forever?

⁵Will you play with him as with a bird, And tie him down for your young girls?

⁶Will the traders bargain for him? Will they divide him among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle; you will not do it again!

⁹Behold, your expectation is false; Will you be hurled down even at the sight of him?

¹⁰No one is so reckless that he dares to stir him; Who then is he who opposes Me?

¹¹Who has been first to give to Me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the entire heaven is Mine.

¹²“I will not be silent about his limbs, Or his mighty strength, or his graceful frame.

¹³Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can pierce his double armor?

¹⁴Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth there is terror.

¹⁵His strong scales are his pride, Locked as with a tight seal.

¹⁶One is so close to another That no air can come between them.

¹⁷They are joined one to another; They clasp each other and cannot be separated.

¹⁸His sneezes flash forth light, And his eyes are like the eye of dawn.

¹⁹From his mouth go burning torches; Sparks of fire leap forth.

²⁰From his nostrils smoke goes out As from a boiling pot and burning reeds.

²¹His breath sets coals aglow, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

²²In his neck dwells strength, And dismay leaps before him.

²³The folds of his flesh are joined together, Firm and immovable on him.

²⁴His heart is as firm as a stone, And as firm as a lower millstone.

²⁵When he rises up, the mighty are afraid; Because of the crashing they are bewildered.

²⁶The sword that reaches him cannot prevail, Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

²⁷He regards iron as straw, Bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸The arrow cannot make him flee; Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

²⁹Clubs are regarded as stubble; He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

³⁰His underparts are like sharp pieces of pottery; He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mud.

³¹He makes the depths boil like a pot; He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

³²Behind him he illuminates a pathway; One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

³³Nothing on earth is like him, One made without fear.

³⁴He looks on everything that is high; He is king over all the sons of pride.”

¹Then Job answered the LORD and said,

²“I know that You can do all things, And that no plan is impossible for You.

³‘Who is this who conceals advice without knowledge?’ Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I do not know.

⁴‘Please listen, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’

⁵I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You;

⁶Therefore I retract, And I repent, sitting on dust and ashes.”

⁷It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has.

⁸Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so as not to do with you as your foolishness deserves, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has.”

⁹So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job.

¹⁰The LORD also restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased double all that Job had.

¹¹Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they sympathized with him and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him a piece of money, and each a ring of gold.

¹²The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.

¹³He also had seven sons and three daughters.

¹⁴He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.

¹⁵In all the land no women were found as beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritances among their brothers.

¹⁶After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations.

¹⁷And Job died, an old man and full of days.