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23Then Job answered: ²“Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning. ³Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling! ⁴I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. ⁵I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. ⁶Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me. ⁷There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.

⁸“If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; ⁹on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him. ¹⁰But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold. ¹¹My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. ¹²I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth.

¹³But he stands alone and who can dissuade him? What he desires, that he does. ¹⁴For he will complete what he appoints for me; and many such things are in his mind. ¹⁵Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him. ¹⁶God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; ¹⁷If only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face!

24“Why are times not kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days? ²The wicked remove landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. ³They drive away the donkey of the orphan; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. ⁴They thrust the needy off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves. ⁵Like wild asses in the desert they go out to their toil, scavenging in the wasteland food for their young. ⁶They reap in a field not their own and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked. ⁷They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. ⁸They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and cling to the rock for want of shelter. ⁹“There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast, and take as a pledge the infant of the poor. ¹⁰They go about naked, without clothing; though hungry, they carry the sheaves; ¹¹between their terraces they press out oil; they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst. ¹²From the city the dying groan, and the throat of the wounded cries for help; yet God pays no attention to their prayer.

¹³“There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. ¹⁴The murderer rises at dusk to kill the poor and needy, and in the night is like a thief. ¹⁵The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he disguises his face. ¹⁶In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. ¹⁷For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

¹⁸“Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion in the land is cursed; no treader turns toward their vineyards. ¹⁹Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned. ²⁰The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered; so wickedness is broken like a tree. ²¹“They harm the childless woman, and do no good to the widow. ²²Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life. ²³He gives them security, and they are supported; his eyes are upon their ways. ²⁴They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they wither and fade like the mallow; they are cut off like the heads of grain. ²⁵If it is not so, who will prove me a liar, and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

40And the Lord said to Job: ²“Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Anyone who argues with God must respond.” ³Then Job answered the Lord: ⁴“See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. ⁵I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but will proceed no further.”

⁶Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: ⁷“Gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you declare to me. ⁸Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified? ⁹Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? ¹⁰“Deck yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor. ¹¹Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on all who are proud, and abase them. ¹²Look on all who are proud, and bring them low; tread down the wicked where they stand. ¹³Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below. ¹⁴Then I will also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can give you victory.

¹⁵“Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you; it eats grass like an ox. ¹⁶Its strength is in its loins, and its power in the muscles of its belly. ¹⁷It makes its tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are knit together. ¹⁸Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like bars of iron. ¹⁹“It is the first of the great acts of God— only its Maker can approach it with the sword. ²⁰For the mountains yield food for it where all the wild animals play. ²¹Under the lotus plants it lies, in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh. ²²The lotus trees cover it for shade; the willows of the wadi surround it. ²³Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened; it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth. ²⁴Can one take it with hooks or pierce its nose with a snare?

41“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down its tongue with a cord? ²Can you put a rope in its nose, or pierce its jaw with a hook? ³Will it make many supplications to you? Will it speak soft words to you? ⁴Will it make a covenant with you to be taken as your servant forever? ⁵Will you play with it as with a bird, or will you put it on leash for your girls? ⁶Will traders bargain over it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? ⁷Can you fill its skin with harpoons, or its head with fishing spears? ⁸Lay hands on it; think of the battle; you will not do it again! ⁹Any hope of capturing it will be disappointed; were not even the gods overwhelmed at the sight of it? ¹⁰No one is so fierce as to dare to stir it up. Who can stand before it?

¹¹Who can confront it and be safe? —under the whole heaven, who? ¹²“I will not keep silence concerning its limbs, or its mighty strength, or its splendid frame. ¹³Who can strip off its outer garment? Who can penetrate its double coat of mail? ¹⁴Who can open the doors of its face? There is terror all around its teeth. ¹⁵Its back is made of shields in rows, shut up closely as with a seal. ¹⁶One is so near to another that no air can come between them. ¹⁷They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated. ¹⁸Its sneezes flash forth light, and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. ¹⁹From its mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap out. ²⁰Out of its nostrils comes smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. ²¹Its breath kindles coals, and a flame comes out of its mouth. ²²In its neck abides strength, and terror dances before it. ²³The folds of its flesh cling together; it is firmly cast and immovable. ²⁴Its heart is as hard as stone, as hard as the lower millstone. ²⁵When it raises itself up the gods are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves. ²⁶Though the sword reaches it, it does not avail, nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin. ²⁷It counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. ²⁸The arrow cannot make it flee; slingstones, for it, are turned to chaff. ²⁹Clubs are counted as chaff; it laughs at the rattle of javelins. ³⁰Its underparts are like sharp potsherds; it spreads itself like a threshing sledge on the mire. ³¹It makes the deep boil like a pot; it makes the sea like a pot of ointment. ³²It leaves a shining wake behind it; one would think the deep to be white-haired. ³³On earth it has no equal, a creature without fear. ³⁴It surveys everything that is lofty; it is king over all that are proud.”

42Then Job answered the Lord: ²“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ³‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ⁴‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.’ ⁵I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; ⁶therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”