Job 40

He Laid His Hand Upon His Mouth

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The Lord Questions Job

40:1The Lord God answered Job and said:

40:2“Will he evade judgment with the Mighty One?
Will the one reproving God answer it?”

Job’s First Answer to the Lord

40:3Then Job replied to the Lord:

40:4“Why am I still being judged,
being admonished and reproving the Lord,
hearing such things though I am nothing?
What answer can I give to these things?
I will place a hand over my mouth;

40:5I have spoken once,
but a second time I will add nothing.”

The Lord Speaks Again from the Cloud

40:6Again the Lord replied to Job from the cloud:

40:7“No, but gird your waist like a man;
I will question you, and you answer Me.

40:8Do not reject My judgment.
Do you think I have dealt with you for any other purpose
than that you may be shown righteous?

40:9Do you have an arm against the Lord,
or thunder with a voice like His?

40:10Take up height and power;
clothe yourself in glory and honor.

40:11Send out angels in wrath,
and humble every insolent person;

40:12extinguish the arrogant,
and make the ungodly decay immediately;

40:13hide them together outside in the earth,
and fill their faces with dishonor;

40:14then I will acknowledge
that your right hand is able to save.

40:15But look at beasts beside you;
it eats grass like oxen.

40:16Look, its strength is upon the loin,
and its power upon the belly’s navel.

40:17It set its tail upright like a cypress,
and its sinews are woven together.

40:18Its ribs are bronze ribs,
and its spine is cast iron.

40:19This is the beginning of the Lord’s formation,
made to be played with by His angels.

40:20Coming upon a sheer mountain,
it brought joy to four-footed creatures in Tartarus.

40:21It sleeps beneath trees of every kind,
beside papyrus, reed and flowering rush.

40:22Great trees are shaded in it,
with shoots and branches of the chaste tree.

40:23If a flood comes, it will certainly not notice;
it is confident that Jordan will strike against its mouth.

40:24He will receive it in its eye;
catching in a snare, will he pierce a nose?

40:25Will you bring a dragon with a hook
and place a muzzle around its nose?

40:26Will you fasten a ring in its nostril
and pierce its lip with a band?

40:27Will it speak to you with a plea,
softly with supplication?

40:28Will it establish a covenant with you,
and will you take it as an everlasting slave?

40:29Will you play with it like a bird,
or tie it like a little bird for a child?

40:30Will nations feed upon it,
and will Phoenician clans divide it?

40:31All floating craft gathered together certainly cannot carry
one hide from its tail,
nor its head in fishermen’s boats.

40:32Will you lay a hand upon it,
remembering the war taking place within its body?
Let it happen no more.”

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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.