attribution (not legally required): Ilya Repin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm and said:
Gird up your loins now, like a man.
I will question you, and you tell me the answers!
Would you refuse to acknowledge my right?
Would you condemn me that you may be justified?
Have you an arm like that of God,
or can you thunder with a voice like his?
Adorn yourself with grandeur and majesty,
and clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
Let loose the fury of your wrath;
look at everyone who is proud and bring them down.
Look at everyone who is proud, and humble them.
Tear down the wicked in their place,
bury them in the dust together;
in the hidden world imprison them.
Then will I too praise you,
for your own right hand can save you.
Look at Behemoth, whom I made along with you,
who feeds on grass like an ox.
See the strength in his loins,
the power in the sinews of his belly.
He carries his tail like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are like cables.
His bones are like tubes of bronze;
his limbs are like iron rods.
He is the first of God’s ways,
only his maker can approach him with a sword.
For the mountains bring him produce,
and all wild animals make sport there.
Under lotus trees he lies,
in coverts of the reedy swamp.
The lotus trees cover him with their shade;
all about him are the poplars in the wadi.
If the river grows violent, he is not disturbed;
he is tranquil though the Jordan surges about his mouth.
Who can capture him by his eyes,
or pierce his nose with a trap?
Can you lead Leviathan about with a hook,
or tie down his tongue with a rope?
Can you put a ring into his nose,
or pierce through his cheek with a gaff?
Will he then plead with you, time after time,
or address you with tender words?
Will he make a covenant with you
that you may have him as a slave forever?
Can you play with him, as with a bird?
Can you tie him up for your little girls?
Will the traders bargain for him?
Will the merchants divide him up?
Can you fill his hide with barbs,
or his head with fish spears?
Once you but lay a hand upon him,
no need to recall any other conflict!
Job 40
Whoever might vainly hope to do so
need only see him to be overthrown.
No one is fierce enough to arouse him;
who then dares stand before me?
Whoever has assailed me, I will pay back—
Everything under the heavens is mine.
I need hardly mention his limbs,
his strength, and the fitness of his equipment.
Who can strip off his outer garment,
or penetrate his double armor?
Who can force open the doors of his face,
close to his terrible teeth?
Rows of scales are on his back,
tightly sealed together;
They are fitted so close to each other
that no air can come between them;
So joined to one another
that they hold fast and cannot be parted.
When he sneezes, light flashes forth;
his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
Out of his mouth go forth torches;
sparks of fire leap forth.
From his nostrils comes smoke
as from a seething pot or bowl.
His breath sets coals afire;
a flame comes from his mouth.
Strength abides in his neck,
and power leaps before him.
The folds of his flesh stick together,
it is cast over him and immovable.
His heart is cast as hard as stone;
cast as the lower millstone.
When he rises up, the gods are afraid;
when he crashes down, they fall back.
Should a sword reach him, it will not avail;
nor will spear, dart, or javelin.
He regards iron as chaff,
and bronze as rotten wood.
No arrow will put him to flight;
slingstones used against him are but straw.
Clubs he regards as straw;
he laughs at the crash of the spear.
Under him are sharp pottery fragments,
spreading a threshing sledge upon the mire.
He makes the depths boil like a pot;
he makes the sea like a perfume bottle.
Behind him he leaves a shining path;
you would think the deep had white hair.
Upon the earth there is none like him,
he was made fearless.
He looks over all who are haughty,
he is king over all proud beasts.
