Summary
- God finally answered Job in Chapter 38 – 41
- God revealed His majesty, His wisdom and knowledge in creation; many examples were given in magnificent animals like the behemoth (Chapter 40, vs15) and the leviathan Chapter 41, vs 1 – 34;
- God is so majestic and wonderful that truly deserves the worship of His creation;
- He is a God of justice vs 8
- He owns everything under heaven Chapter 41, vs 11. He owes us nothing.
Job 38:1-41
[1]Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job.
[2]Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words?
[3]Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you.
[4]Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it.
[5]Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers?
[6]What holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world?
[7]In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, and the heavenly beings shouted for joy.
[8]Who closed the gates to hold back the sea when it burst from the womb of the earth?
[9]It was I who covered the sea with clouds and wrapped it in darkness.
[10]I marked a boundary for the sea and kept it behind bolted gates.
[11]I told it, “So far and no farther! Here your powerful waves must stop.”
[12]Job, have you ever in all your life commanded a day to dawn?
[13]Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth and shake the wicked from their hiding places?
[14]Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out like the folds of a garment, clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.
[15]The light of day is too bright for the wicked and restrains them from deeds of violence.
[16]Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea? Have you walked on the floor of the ocean?
[17]Has anyone ever shown you the gates that guard the dark world of the dead?
[18]Have you any idea how big the world is? Answer me if you know.
[19]Do you know where the light comes from or what the source of darkness is?
[20]Can you show them how far to go, or send them back again?
[21]I am sure you can, because you’re so old and were there when the world was made!
[22]Have you ever visited the storerooms, where I keep the snow and the hail?
[23]I keep them ready for times of trouble, for days of battle and war.
[24]Have you been to the place where the sun comes up, or the place from which the east wind blows?
[25]Who dug a channel for the pouring rain and cleared the way for the thunderstorm?
[26]Who makes rain fall where no one lives?
[27]Who waters the dry and thirsty land, so that grass springs up?
[28]Does either the rain or the dew have a father?
[29]Who is the mother of the ice and the frost,
[30]which turn the waters to stone and freeze the face of the sea?
[31]Can you tie the Pleiades together or loosen the bonds that hold Orion?
[32]Can you guide the stars season by season and direct the Great and the Little Bear?
[33]Do you know the laws that govern the skies, and can you make them apply to the earth?
[34]Can you shout orders to the clouds and make them drench you with rain?
[35]And if you command the lightning to flash, will it come to you and say, “At your service”?
[36]Who tells the ibis when the Nile will flood, or who tells the cock that rain will fall?
[37]Who is wise enough to count the clouds and tilt them over to pour out the rain,
[38]rain that hardens the dust into lumps?
[39]Do you find food for lions to eat, and satisfy hungry young lions
[40]when they hide in their caves, or lie in wait in their dens?
[41]Who is it that feeds the ravens when they wander about hungry, when their young cry to me for food?
Job 39:1-30
[1]Do you know when mountain goats are born? Have you watched wild deer give birth?
[2]Do you know how long they carry their young? Do you know the time for their birth?
[3]Do you know when they will crouch down and bring their young into the world?
[4]In the wilds their young grow strong; they go away and don’t come back.
[5]Who gave the wild donkeys their freedom? Who turned them loose and let them roam?
[6]I gave them the desert to be their home, and let them live on the salt plains.
[7]They keep far away from the noisy cities, and no one can tame them and make them work.
[8]The mountains are the pastures where they feed, where they search for anything green to eat.
[9]Will a wild ox work for you? Is he willing to spend the night in your stable?
[10]Can you hold one with a rope and make him plough? Or make him pull a harrow in your fields?
[11]Can you rely on his great strength and expect him to do your heavy work?
[12]Do you expect him to bring in your harvest and gather the grain from your threshing place?
[13]How fast the wings of an ostrich beat! But no ostrich can fly like a stork.
[14]The ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground for the heat in the soil to warm them.
[15]She is unaware that a foot may crush them or a wild animal break them.
[16]She acts as if the eggs were not hers, and is unconcerned that her efforts were wasted.
[17]It was I who made her foolish and did not give her wisdom.
[18]But when she begins to run, she can laugh at any horse and rider.
[19]Was it you, Job, who made horses so strong and gave them their flowing manes?
[20]Did you make them leap like locusts and frighten people with their snorting?
[21]They eagerly paw the ground in the valley; they rush into battle with all their strength.
[22]They do not know the meaning of fear, and no sword can turn them back.
[23]The weapons which their riders carry rattle and flash in the sun.
[24]Trembling with excitement, the horses race ahead; when the trumpet blows, they can’t stand still.
[25]At each blast of the trumpet they snort; they can smell a battle before they get near, and they hear the officers shouting commands.
[26]Does a hawk learn from you how to fly when it spreads its wings towards the south?
[27]Does an eagle wait for your command to build its nest high in the mountains?
[28]It makes its home on the highest rocks and makes the sharp peaks its fortress.
[29]From there it watches near and far for something to kill and eat.
[30]Around dead bodies the eagles gather, and the young eagles drink the blood.
Job 40:1,3,5-24
1 Job, you challenged Almighty God; will you give up now, or will you answer?
3 I spoke foolishly, Lord. What can I answer? I will not try to say anything else.
[5]I have already said more than I should.
[6]Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job once again.
[7]Stand up straight now, and answer my questions.
[8]Are you trying to prove that I am unjust — to put me in the wrong and yourself in the right?
[9]Are you as strong as I am? Can your voice thunder as loud as mine?
[10]If so, stand up in your honour and pride; clothe yourself with majesty and glory.
[11]Look at those who are proud; pour out your anger and humble them.
[12]Yes, look at them and bring them down; crush the wicked where they stand.
[13]Bury them all in the ground; bind them in the world of the dead.
[14]Then I will be the first to praise you and admit that you won the victory yourself.
[15]Look at the monster Behemoth; I created him and I created you. He eats grass like a cow,
[16]but what strength there is in his body, and what power there is in his muscles!
[17]His tail stands up like a cedar, and the muscles in his legs are strong.
[18]His bones are as strong as bronze, and his legs are like iron bars.
[19]The most amazing of all my creatures! Only his Creator can defeat him.
[20]Grass to feed him grows on the hills where wild beasts play.
[21]He lies down under the thorn bushes, and hides among the reeds in the swamp.
[22]The thorn bushes and the willows by the stream give him shelter in their shade.
[23]He is not afraid of a rushing river; he is calm when the Jordan dashes in his face.
[24]Who can blind his eyes and capture him? Or who can catch his snout in a trap?
Job 41:1-34
[1]Can you catch Leviathan with a fish-hook or tie his tongue down with a rope?
[2]Can you put a rope through his snout or put a hook through his jaws?
[3]Will he beg you to let him go? Will he plead with you for mercy?
[4]Will he make an agreement with you and promise to serve you for ever?
[5]Will you tie him up like a pet bird, like something to amuse your servant women?
[6]Will fishermen bargain over him? Will merchants cut him up to sell?
[7]Can you fill his hide with fishing spears or pierce his head with a harpoon?
[8]Touch him once and you’ll never try it again; you’ll never forget the fight!
[9]Anyone who sees Leviathan loses courage and falls to the ground.
[10]When he is aroused, he is fierce; no one would dare to stand before him.
[11]Who can attack him and still be safe? No one in all the world can do it.
[12]Let me tell you about Leviathan’s legs and describe how great and strong he is.
[13]No one can tear off his outer coat or pierce the armour he wears.
[14]Who can make him open his jaws, ringed with those terrifying teeth?
[15]His back is made of rows of shields, fastened together and hard as stone.
[16]Each one is joined so tight to the next, not even a breath can come between.
[17]They all are fastened so firmly together that nothing can ever pull them apart.
[18]Light flashes when he sneezes, and his eyes glow like the rising sun.
[19]Flames blaze from his mouth, and streams of sparks fly out.
[20]Smoke comes pouring out of his nose, like smoke from weeds burning under a pot.
[21]His breath starts fires burning; flames leap out of his mouth.
[22]His neck is so powerful that all who meet him are terrified.
[23]There is not a weak spot in his skin; it is as hard and unyielding as iron.
[24]His stony heart is without fear, as unyielding and hard as a millstone.
[25]When he rises up, even the strongest are frightened; they are helpless with fear.
[26]There is no sword that can wound him; no spear or arrow or lance that can harm him.
[27]For him iron is as flimsy as straw, and bronze as soft as rotten wood.
[28]There is no arrow that can make him run; rocks thrown at him are like bits of straw.
[29]To him a club is a piece of straw, and he laughs when men throw spears.
[30]The scales on his belly are like jagged pieces of pottery; they tear up the muddy ground like a threshing-sledge.
[31]He churns up the sea like boiling water and makes it bubble like a pot of oil.
[32]He leaves a shining path behind him and turns the sea to white foam.
[33]There is nothing on earth to compare with him; he is a creature that has no fear.
[34]He looks down on even the proudest animals; he is king of all wild beasts.