Study Desk

Then the Lord said to Job,

"Will the faultfinder ^(a)contend with the Almighty? Let him who ^(b)reproves God answer it."

Then Job answered the Lord and said,

"Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I ^(c)lay my hand on my mouth.

"Once I have spoken, and ^(d)I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more."

Then the ^(e) Lord answered Job out of the storm and said,

"Now ^(f)gird up your loins like a man; I will ^(g)ask you, and you instruct Me.

"Will you really ^(h)annul My judgment? Will you ⁽ⁱ⁾condemn Me ^(j)that you may be justified?

"Or do you have an arm like God, And can you ^(k)thunder with a voice like His?

"^(l)Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity, And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.

"Pour out ^(m)the overflowings of your anger, And look on everyone who is ⁽ⁿ⁾proud, and make him low.

"Look on everyone who is proud, and ^(o)humble him, And ^(p)tread down the wicked ^[a]where they stand.

"^(q)Hide them in the dust together; Bind ^[b]them in the hidden place.

"Then I will also ^[c]confess to you, That your own right hand can save you.

"Behold now, ^[d]Behemoth, which ^(r)I made ^[e]as well as you; He eats grass like an ox.

"Behold now, his strength in his loins And his power in the muscles of his belly.

"He bends his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are knit together.

"His bones are tubes of bronze; His ^[f]limbs are like bars of iron.

"He is the ^(s)first of the ways of God; Let his ^(t)maker bring near his sword.

"Surely the mountains ^(u)bring him food, And all the beasts of the field ^(v)play there.

"Under the lotus plants he lies down, In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.

"The lotus plants cover him with ^[g]shade; The willows of the brook surround him.

"If a river ^[h]rages, he is not alarmed; He is confident, though the ^(w)Jordan rushes to his mouth.

"Can anyone capture him ^[i]when he is on watch, With ^[j]barbs can anyone pierce his nose?

"^[a]Can you draw out ^[b](a)Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?

"Can you ^(b)put a ^[c]rope in his nose Or pierce his jaw with a ^[d]hook?

"Will he make many supplications to you, Or will he speak to you soft words?

"Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever?

"Will you play with him as with a bird, Or will you bind him for your maidens?

"Will the ^[e]traders bargain over him? Will they divide him among the merchants?

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

"Lay your hand on him; Remember the battle; ^[f]you will not do it again!

"^[g]Behold, ^[h]your expectation is false; Will ^[i]you be laid low even at the sight of him?

"No one is so fierce that he dares to ^(c)arouse him; Who then is he that can stand before Me?

"Who has ^[j](d)given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is ^(e)under the whole heaven is Mine.

"I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, Or his mighty strength, or his ^[k]orderly frame.

"Who can ^[l]strip off his outer armor? Who can come within his double ^[m]mail?

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

"His ^[n]strong scales are his pride, Shut up as with a tight seal.

"One is so near to another That no air can come between them.

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

"His sneezes flash forth light, And his eyes are like the ^(f)eyelids of the morning.

"Out of his mouth go burning torches; Sparks of fire leap forth.

"Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

"His breath kindles coals, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

"In his neck lodges strength, And dismay leaps before him.

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

"His heart is as hard as a stone, Even as hard as a lower millstone.

"When he raises himself up, the ^[o]mighty fear; Because of the crashing they are bewildered.

"The sword that reaches him cannot avail, Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.

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

"The ^[p]arrow cannot make him flee; Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

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

"His underparts are like sharp potsherds; He ^[q]spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.

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

"Behind him he makes a wake to shine; One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

"^(g)Nothing on ^[r]earth is like him, One made without fear.

"^[s]He looks on everything that is high; He is king over all the ^(h)sons of pride."

Then Job answered the Lord and said,

"I know that ^(a)You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

‘Who is this that ^(b)hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things ^(c)too wonderful for me, which I did not know."

‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ^(d)ask You, and You instruct me.'

"I have ^(e)heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my ^(f)eye sees You;

Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes."

It 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 right ^(g)as My servant Job has.

Now therefore, take for yourselves ^(h)seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a ⁽ⁱ⁾burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will ^(j)pray for you. ^(k)For I will ^[a]accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has."

So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them; and the Lord ^[b]accepted Job.

The Lord ^(l)restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold.

Then all his ^(m)brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they ⁽ⁿ⁾consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him one ^[c]piece of money, and each a ring of gold.

^(o)The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; ^(p)and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.

^(q)He had seven sons and three daughters.

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

In all the land no women were found so fair as Job's daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers.

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

^(r)And Job died, an old man and full of days.