“Do You Have an Arm Like God’s?”

¹And the Lord said to Job:

²“Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?

He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Job Promises Silence

³Then Job answered the Lord and said:

⁴“Behold, 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 I will proceed no further.”

The Lord Challenges Job

⁶Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

⁷“Dress for action1 like a man;

I will question you, and you make it known to me.

⁸Will you even put me in the wrong?

Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?

⁹Have you an arm like God,

and can you thunder with a voice like his?

¹⁰“Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;

clothe yourself with glory and splendor.

¹¹Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.

¹²Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low

and tread down the wicked where they stand.

¹³Hide them all in the dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.2

¹⁴Then will I also acknowledge to you

that your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵“Behold, Behemoth,3

which I made as I made you;

he eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶Behold, his strength in his loins,

and his power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

¹⁸His bones are tubes of bronze,

his limbs like bars of iron.

¹⁹“He is the first of the works4 of God;

let him who made him bring near his sword!

²⁰For the mountains yield food for him

where all the wild beasts play.

²¹Under the lotus plants he lies,

in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.

²²For his shade the lotus trees cover him;

the willows of the brook surround him.

²³Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;

he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

²⁴Can one take him by his eyes,5

or pierce his nose with a snare?