6
Then 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?
9
Are you as strong as God?
Can you thunder with a voice like his?
10
All right, put on your glory and splendor,
your honor and majesty.
11
Give vent to your anger.
Let it overflow against the proud.
12
Humiliate the proud with a glance;
walk on the wicked where they stand.
13
Bury them in the dust.
Imprison them in the world of the dead.
14
Then even I would praise you,
for your own strength would save you.
15
“Take a look at Behemoth, 1
which I made, just as I made you.
It eats grass like an ox.
16
See its powerful loins
and the muscles of its belly.
17
Its tail is as strong as a cedar.
The sinews of its thighs are knit tightly together.
18
Its bones are tubes of bronze.
Its limbs are bars of iron.
19
It is a prime example of God’s handiwork,
and only its Creator can threaten it.
20
The mountains offer it their best food,
where all the wild animals play.
21
It lies under the lotus plants, 2
hidden by the reeds in the marsh.
22
The lotus plants give it shade
among the willows beside the stream.
23
It is not disturbed by the raging river,
not concerned when the swelling Jordan rushes around it.
24
No one can catch it off guard
or put a ring in its nose and lead it away.
1
3 “Can you catch Leviathan 4 with a hook
or put a noose around its jaw?
2
Can you tie it with a rope through the nose
or pierce its jaw with a spike?
3
Will it beg you for mercy
or implore you for pity?
4
Will it agree to work for you,
to be your slave for life?
5
Can you make it a pet like a bird,
or give it to your little girls to play with?
6
Will merchants try to buy it
to sell it in their shops?
7
Will its hide be hurt by spears
or its head by a harpoon?
8
If you lay a hand on it,
you will certainly remember the battle that follows.
You won’t try that again!
9
5 No, it is useless to try to capture it.
The hunter who attempts it will be knocked down.
10
And since no one dares to disturb it,
who then can stand up to me?
11
Who 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.
13
Who can strip off its hide,
and who can penetrate its double layer of armor? 6
14
Who could pry open its jaws?
For its teeth are terrible!
15
Its scales are like rows of shields
tightly sealed together.
16
They are so close together
that no air can get between them.
17
Each 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.
19
Lightning leaps from its mouth;
flames of fire flash out.
20
Smoke streams from its nostrils
like steam from a pot heated over burning rushes.
21
Its breath would kindle coals,
for flames shoot from its mouth.
22
“The tremendous strength in Leviathan’s neck
strikes terror wherever it goes.
23
Its flesh is hard and firm
and cannot be penetrated.
24
Its heart is hard as rock,
hard as a millstone.
25
When it rises, the mighty are afraid,
gripped by terror.
26
No sword can stop it,
no spear, dart, or javelin.
27
Iron is nothing but straw to that creature,
and bronze is like rotten wood.
28
Arrows cannot make it flee.
Stones shot from a sling are like bits of grass.
29
Clubs are like a blade of grass,
and it laughs at the swish of javelins.
30
Its 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.
32
The water glistens in its wake,
making the sea look white.
33
Nothing on earth is its equal,
no other creature so fearless.
34
Of all the creatures, it is the proudest.
It is the king of beasts.”