Chronological Plan

¹Then the LORD said to Job,

²“Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?”

³Then Job replied to the LORD,

⁴“I am nothing — how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand.

⁵I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.”

⁶Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:

⁷“Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.

⁸“Will you discredit my justice and condemn me just to prove you are right?

⁹Are you as strong as God? Can you thunder with a voice like his?

¹⁰All right, put on your glory and splendor, your honor and majesty.

¹¹Give vent to your anger. Let it overflow against the proud.

¹²Humiliate the proud with a glance; walk on the wicked where they stand.

¹³Bury them in the dust. Imprison them in the world of the dead.

¹⁴Then even I would praise you, for your own strength would save you.

¹⁵“Take a look at Behemoth, which I made, just as I made you. It eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶See its powerful loins and the muscles of its belly.

¹⁷Its tail is as strong as a cedar. The sinews of its thighs are knit tightly together.

¹⁸Its bones are tubes of bronze. Its limbs are bars of iron.

¹⁹It is a prime example of God’s handiwork, and only its Creator can threaten it.

²⁰The mountains offer it their best food, where all the wild animals play.

²¹It lies under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds in the marsh.

²²The lotus plants give it shade among the willows beside the stream.

²³It is not disturbed by the raging river, not concerned when the swelling Jordan rushes around it.

²⁴No one can catch it off guard or put a ring in its nose and lead it away.

¹“Can you catch Leviathan with a hook or put a noose around its jaw?

²Can you tie it with a rope through the nose or pierce its jaw with a spike?

³Will it beg you for mercy or implore you for pity?

⁴Will it agree to work for you, to be your slave for life?

⁵Can you make it a pet like a bird, or give it to your little girls to play with?

⁶Will merchants try to buy it to sell it in their shops?

⁷Will its hide be hurt by spears or its head by a harpoon?

⁸If you lay a hand on it, you will certainly remember the battle that follows. You won’t try that again!

⁹No, it is useless to try to capture it. The hunter who attempts it will be knocked down.

¹⁰And since no one dares to disturb it, who then can stand up to me?

¹¹Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine.

¹²“I want to emphasize Leviathan’s limbs and its enormous strength and graceful form.

¹³Who can strip off its hide, and who can penetrate its double layer of armor?

¹⁴Who could pry open its jaws? For its teeth are terrible!

¹⁵The scales on its back are like rows of shields tightly sealed together.

¹⁶They are so close together that no air can get between them.

¹⁷Each scale sticks tight to the next. They interlock and cannot be penetrated.

¹⁸“When it sneezes, it flashes light! Its eyes are like the red of dawn.

¹⁹Lightning leaps from its mouth; flames of fire flash out.

²⁰Smoke streams from its nostrils like steam from a pot heated over burning rushes.

²¹Its breath would kindle coals, for flames shoot from its mouth.

²²“The tremendous strength in Leviathan’s neck strikes terror wherever it goes.

²³Its flesh is hard and firm and cannot be penetrated.

²⁴Its heart is hard as rock, hard as a millstone.

²⁵When it rises, the mighty are afraid, gripped by terror.

²⁶No sword can stop it, no spear, dart, or javelin.

²⁷Iron is nothing but straw to that creature, and bronze is like rotten wood.

²⁸Arrows cannot make it flee. Stones shot from a sling are like bits of grass.

²⁹Clubs are like a blade of grass, and it laughs at the swish of javelins.

³⁰Its belly is covered with scales as sharp as glass. It plows up the ground as it drags through the mud.

³¹“Leviathan makes the water boil with its commotion. It stirs the depths like a pot of ointment.

³²The water glistens in its wake, making the sea look white.

³³Nothing on earth is its equal, no other creature so fearless.

³⁴Of all the creatures, it is the proudest. It is the king of beasts.”

¹Then Job replied to the LORD:

²“I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.

³You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I — and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me.

⁴You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’

⁵I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.

⁶I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

⁷After the LORD had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.

⁸So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.”

⁹So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the LORD commanded them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.

¹⁰When Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes. In fact, the LORD gave him twice as much as before!

¹¹Then all his brothers, sisters, and former friends came and feasted with him in his home. And they consoled him and comforted him because of all the trials the LORD had brought against him. And each of them brought him a gift of money and a gold ring.

¹²So the LORD blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

¹³He also gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters.

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

¹⁵In all the land no women were as lovely as the daughters of Job. And their father put them into his will along with their brothers.

¹⁶Job lived 140 years after that, living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren.

¹⁷Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life.