Job 40
About JobWritten by AI
Job is a long poem framed by a short story. A good man loses his wealth, his children, and his health, and no one tells him why. The writer and the date are unknown: the story is set in the age of the patriarchs, but the book may have been written much later, and Christians hold different views on when. Some Jewish tradition credits Moses.
After two prose chapters, Job and three friends trade speeches in rounds. The friends insist suffering must be punishment for sin; Job insists he is innocent and pleads for God to answer him. A younger man, Elihu, speaks next. Then the LORD Himself answers out of the whirlwind, and the story closes in prose.
Read the friends with care. They say many true things about God, but they apply them wrongly, and at the end God says they have not spoken of Him accurately as Job has (42:7). Watch for Job's flashes of hope in the dark: “I know that my Redeemer lives.”
Before you read Job 40Written by AI
Job puts his hand over his mouth and says he will speak no more. God speaks again: would Job condemn God to justify himself? If Job could humble every proud person, God would admit he could save himself. Then God points to Behemoth, a mighty creature only its Maker can approach.
Job Humbles Himself before the LORD
And the LORD said to Job:
“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Let him who argues with God give an answer.”
Then Job answered the LORD:
“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You?
I place my hand over my mouth.
I have spoken once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I have nothing to add.”
The LORD Challenges Job Again
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
“Now brace yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
Would you really annul My justice?
Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?
Do you have an arm like God’s?
Can you thunder with a voice like His?
Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,
and clothe yourself with honor and glory.
Unleash the fury of your wrath;
look on every proud man and bring him low.
Look on every proud man and humble him;
trample the wicked where they stand.
Bury them together in the dust;
imprison them in the grave.
Then I will confess to you
that your own right hand can save you.
Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you.
He feeds on grass like an ox.
See the strength of his loins
and the power in the muscles of his belly.
His tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.
His bones are tubes of bronze;
his limbs are rods of iron.
He is the foremost of God’s works;
only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
The hills yield him their produce,
while all the beasts of the field play nearby.
He lies under the lotus plants,
hidden among the reeds of the marsh.
The lotus plants conceal him in their shade;
the willows of the brook surround him.
Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid;
he remains secure, though the Jordan surges to his mouth.
Can anyone capture him as he looks on,
or pierce his nose with a snare?