² “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?
He who rebukes God, let him answer it.”

Job’s Response to God

⁴ “ Behold, I am vile;
What shall I answer You?
I lay my hand over my mouth.

⁵ Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;
Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

God’s Challenge to Job

⁷ “Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me:

⁸ “ Would you indeed annul My judgment?
Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?

⁹ Have you an arm like God?
Or can you thunder with a voice like His?

¹⁰ Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,
And array yourself with glory and beauty.

¹¹ Disperse the rage of your wrath;
Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him.

¹² Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low;
Tread down the wicked in their place.

¹³ Hide them in the dust together,
Bind their faces in hidden darkness.

¹⁴ Then I will also confess to you
That your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵ “Look now at the behemoth,^[a] which I made along with you;
He eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶ See now, his strength is in his hips,
And his power is in his stomach muscles.

¹⁷ He moves his tail like a cedar;
The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.

¹⁸ His bones are like beams of bronze,
His ribs like bars of iron.

¹⁹ He is the first of the ways of God;
Only He who made him can bring near His sword.

²⁰ Surely the mountains yield food for him,
And all the beasts of the field play there.

²¹ He lies under the lotus trees,
In a covert of reeds and marsh.

²² The lotus trees cover him with their shade;
The willows by the brook surround him.

²³ Indeed the river may rage,
Yet he is not disturbed;
He is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth,

²⁴ Though he takes it in his eyes,
Or one pierces his nose with a snare.