Holy Bible
Job
Job 38
The LORD Speaks
1Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?
3Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer me.
4“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—
7while the morning stars sang together and all the angels[69] shouted for joy?
8“Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, 9when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, 10when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, 11when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?
12“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, 13that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
14The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.
15The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.
16“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19“What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, 23which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?
24What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, 26to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert, 27to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?
28Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31“Can you bind the chains[70] of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
32Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons[71] or lead out the Bear[72] with its cubs?
33Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s[73] dominion over the earth?
34“Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36Who gives the ibis wisdom[74] or gives the rooster understanding?[75]
37Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?
39“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
41Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?
Job 39
1“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
3They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended.
4Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.
5“Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat.
7It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout.
8It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing.
9“Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will it stay by your manger at night?
10Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
Will it till the valleys behind you?
11Will you rely on it for its great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12Can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.
14She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, 15unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.
16She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain, 17for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.
18Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.
19“Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting?
21It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray.
22It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword.
23The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance.
24In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?
27Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?
28It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar.
30Its young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there it is.”
Job 40
1The LORD said to Job:
2“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
3Then Job answered the LORD:
4“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
6Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:
7“Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer me.
8“Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
9Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his?
10Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
11Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at all who are proud and bring them low, 12look at all who are proud and humble them, crush the wicked where they stand.
13Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave.
14Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.
15“Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox.
16What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly!
17Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
18Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron.
19It ranks first among the works of God, yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.
20The hills bring it their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby.
21Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
22The lotuses conceal it in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround it.
23A raging river does not alarm it; it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth.
24Can anyone capture it by the eyes, or trap it and pierce its nose?
Job 41 [76]
1“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope?
2Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3Will it keep begging you for mercy?
Will it speak to you with gentle words?
4Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life?
5Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
6Will traders barter for it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?
8If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering.
10No one is fierce enough to rouse it.
Who then is able to stand against me?
11Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form.
13Who can strip off its outer coat?
Who can penetrate its double coat of armor[77]?
14Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth?
15Its back has[78] rows of shields tightly sealed together;
16each is so close to the next that no air can pass between.
17They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted.
18Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.
20Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth.
22Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it.
23The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
24Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.
25When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing.
26The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
27Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.
28Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it.
29A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
32It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair.
33Nothing on earth is its equal—a creature without fear.
34It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.”
Job 42
Job
1Then Job replied to the LORD:
2“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
4“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you shall answer me.’
5My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
6Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
Epilogue
7After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
10After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver[79] and a gold ring.
12The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17And so Job died, an old man and full of years.
Job Attached Contents
Job 1
[1]1:6 Hebrew the sons of God
[2]1:6 Hebrew satan means adversary.
[3]1:21 Or will return there.
Job 2
[4]2:1 Hebrew the sons of God
[5]2:10 The Hebrew word rendered foolish denotes moral deficiency.
Job 3
[6]3:8 Or curse the sea.
Job 5
[7]5:17 Hebrew Shaddai; here and throughout Job
Job 6
[8]6:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
[9]6:29 Or my righteousness still stands.
Job 7
[10]7:20 A few manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition and Septuagint; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text I have become a burden to myself.
Job 8
[11]8:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
[12]8:19 Or Surely all the joy it has / is that.
Job 9
[13]9:9 Or of Leo.
[14]9:19 See Septuagint; Hebrew me.
Job 10
[15]10:15 Or and aware of.
Job 11
[16]11:12 Or wild donkey can be born tame.
Job 12
[17]12:6 Or those whose god is in their own hand.
[18]12:18 Or shackles of kings / and ties a belt.
Job 13
[19]13:15 Or He will surely slay me; I have no hope — / yet I will.
Job 14
[20]14:3 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew me.
[21]14:14 Or release
Job 16
[22]16:20 Or My friends treat me with scorn.
Job 18
[23]18:15 Or Nothing he had remains.
Job 19
[24]19:20 Or only by my gums.
[25]19:24 Or and.
[26]19:25 Or vindicator.
[27]19:25 Or on my grave.
[28]19:26 Or And after I awake, / though this body has been destroyed, / then.
[29]19:26 Or destroyed, / apart from.
[30]19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts me.
[31]19:29 Or sword, / that you may come to know the Almighty.
Job 20
[32]20:4 Or Adam.
[33]20:28 Or The possessions in his house will be carried off, / washed away.
Job 21
[34]21:13 Or in an instant.
[35]21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
[36]21:30 Or wicked are reserved for the day of calamity, / that they are brought forth to.
[37]21:33 Or them, / as a countless throng went.
Job 23
[38]23:2 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew / the hand on me.
[39]23:2 Or heavy on me in.
Job 24
[40]24:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Job 26
[41]26:6 Hebrew Abaddon.
Job 28
[42]28:11 Septuagint, Aquila and Vulgate; Hebrew They dam up.
[43]28:22 Hebrew Abaddon.
Job 29
[44]29:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
Job 30
[45]30:3 Or gnawed
[46]30:4 Or fuel.
[47]30:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
[48]30:18 Hebrew; Septuagint power he grasps my clothing.
Job 31
[49]31:12 Hebrew Abaddon.
[50]31:33 Or as Adam did.
Job 32
[51]32:3 Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition Job, and so had condemned God.
[52]32:8 Or Spirit; also in verse 18
[53]32:9 Or many; or great.
Job 33
[54]33:13 Or that he does not answer for any of his actions
[55]33:18 Or from crossing the river.
[56]33:22 Or to the place of the dead
Job 34
[57]34:14 Or Spirit.
Job 35
[58]35:3 Or you.
[59]35:10, 11 Or night, / 11who teaches us by.
[60]35:11 Or us wise by.
[61]35:15 Symmachus, Theodotion and Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Job 36
[62]36:12 Or will cross the river.
[63]36:20 The meaning of the Hebrew for verses 18–20 is uncertain.
[64]36:27 Or distill from the mist as rain.
[65]36:31 Or nourishes.
[66]36:33 Or announces his coming— / the One zealous against evil.
Job 37
[67]37:7 Or work, / he fills all people with fear by his power.
[68]37:24 Or for he does not have regard for any who think they are wise.
Job 38
[69]38:7 Hebrew the sons of God
[70]38:31 Septuagint; Hebrew beauty.
[71]38:32 Or the morning star in its season
[72]38:32 Or out Leo
[73]38:33 Or their.
[74]38:36 That is, wisdom about the flooding of the Nile
[75]38:36 That is, understanding of when to crow; the meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
Job 41
[76]In Hebrew texts 41:1–8 is numbered 40:25–32, and 41:9–34 is numbered 41:1–26.
[77]41:13 Septuagint; Hebrew double bridle
[78]41:15 Or Its pride is its
Job 42
[79]42:11 Hebrew him a kesitah; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value.