To The Word – Day 169

₂Who are you to question my wisdom

with your ignorant, empty words?

₃Now stand up straight

and answer the questions I ask you.

₄Were you there when I made the world?

If you know so much, tell me about it.

₅Who decided how large it would be?

Who stretched the measuring line over it?

Do you know all the answers?

₆What holds up the pillars that support the earth?

Who laid the cornerstone of the world?

₇In the dawn of that day the stars sang together,

and the heavenly beings shouted for joy.

₈Who closed the gates to hold back the sea

when it burst from the womb of the earth?

₉It was I who covered the sea with clouds

and wrapped it in darkness.

₁₀I marked a boundary for the sea

and kept it behind bolted gates.

₁₁I told it, “So far and no farther!

Here your powerful waves must stop.”

₁₂Job, have you ever in all your life

commanded a day to dawn?

₁₃Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth

and shake the wicked from their hiding places?

₁₄Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out

like the folds of a garment,

clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.

₁₅The light of day is too bright for the wicked

and restrains them from deeds of violence.

₁₆Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea?

Have you walked on the floor of the ocean?

₁₇Has anyone ever shown you the gates

that guard the dark world of the dead?

₁₈Have you any idea how big the world is?

Answer me if you know.

₁₉Do you know where the light comes from

or what the source of darkness is?

₂₀Can you show them how far to go,

or send them back again?

₂₁I am sure you can, because you're so old

and were there when the world was made!

₂₂Have you ever visited the storerooms,

where I keep the snow and the hail?

₂₃I keep them ready for times of trouble,

for days of battle and war.

₂₄Have you been to the place where the sun comes up,

or the place from which the east wind blows?

₂₅Who dug a channel for the pouring rain

and cleared the way for the thunderstorm?

₂₆Who makes rain fall where no one lives?

₂₇Who waters the dry and thirsty land,

so that grass springs up?

₂₈Does either the rain or the dew have a father?

₂₉Who is the mother of the ice and the frost,

₃₀which turn the waters to stone

and freeze the face of the sea?

₃₁Can you tie the Pleiades together

or loosen the bonds that hold Orion?

₃₂Can you guide the stars season by season

and direct the Great and the Little Bear?

₃₃Do you know the laws that govern the skies,

and can you make them apply to the earth?

₃₄Can you shout orders to the clouds

and make them drench you with rain?

₃₅And if you command the lightning to flash,

will it come to you and say, “At your service”?

₃₆Who tells the ibis when the Nile will flood,

or who tells the cock that rain will fall?

₃₇Who is wise enough to count the clouds

and tilt them over to pour out the rain,

₃₈rain that hardens the dust into lumps?

₃₉Do you find food for lions to eat,

and satisfy hungry young lions

₄₀when they hide in their caves,

or lie in wait in their dens?

₄₁Who is it that feeds the ravens

when they wander about hungry,

when their young cry to me for food?

₁Do you know when mountain goats are born?

Have you watched wild deer give birth?

₂Do you know how long they carry their young?

Do you know the time for their birth?

₃Do you know when they will crouch down

and bring their young into the world?

₄In the wilds their young grow strong;

they go away and don't come back.

₅Who gave the wild donkeys their freedom?

Who turned them loose and let them roam?

₆I gave them the desert to be their home,

and let them live on the salt plains.

₇They keep far away from the noisy cities,

and no one can tame them and make them work.

₈The mountains are the pastures where they feed,

where they search for anything green to eat.

₉Will a wild ox work for you?

Is he willing to spend the night in your stable?

₁₀Can you hold one with a rope and make him plough?

Or make him pull a harrow in your fields?

₁₁Can you rely on his great strength

and expect him to do your heavy work?

₁₂Do you expect him to bring in your harvest

and gather the grain from your threshing place?

₁₃How fast the wings of an ostrich beat!

But no ostrich can fly like a stork.

₁₄The ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground

for the heat in the soil to warm them.

₁₅She is unaware that a foot may crush them

or a wild animal break them.

₁₆She acts as if the eggs were not hers,

and is unconcerned that her efforts were wasted.

₁₇It was I who made her foolish

and did not give her wisdom.

₁₈But when she begins to run,

she can laugh at any horse and rider.

₁₉Was it you, Job, who made horses so strong

and gave them their flowing manes?

₂₀Did you make them leap like locusts

and frighten people with their snorting?

₂₁They eagerly paw the ground in the valley;

they rush into battle with all their strength.

₂₂They do not know the meaning of fear,

and no sword can turn them back.

₂₃The weapons which their riders carry

rattle and flash in the sun.

₂₄Trembling with excitement, the horses race ahead;

when the trumpet blows, they can't stand still.

₂₅At each blast of the trumpet they snort;

they can smell a battle before they get near,

and they hear the officers shouting commands.

₂₆Does a hawk learn from you how to fly

when it spreads its wings towards the south?

₂₇Does an eagle wait for your command

to build its nest high in the mountains?

₂₈It makes its home on the highest rocks

and makes the sharp peaks its fortress.

₂₉From there it watches near and far

for something to kill and eat.

₃₀Around dead bodies the eagles gather,

and the young eagles drink the blood.

_1-2Job, you challenged Almighty God;

will you give up now, or will you answer?

_3-4I spoke foolishly, LORD. What can I answer?

I will not try to say anything else.

₅I have already said more than I should.

₇Stand up straight now,

and answer my questions.

₈Are you trying to prove that I am unjust —

to put me in the wrong and yourself in the right?

₉Are you as strong as I am?

Can your voice thunder as loud as mine?

₁₀If so, stand up in your honour and pride;

clothe yourself with majesty and glory.

₁₁Look at those who are proud;

pour out your anger and humble them.

₁₂Yes, look at them and bring them down;

crush the wicked where they stand.

₁₃Bury them all in the ground;

bind them in the world of the dead.

₁₄Then I will be the first to praise you

and admit that you won the victory yourself.

₁₅Look at the monster Behemoth;

I created him and I created you.

He eats grass like a cow,

₁₆but what strength there is in his body,

and what power there is in his muscles!

₁₇His tail stands up like a cedar,

and the muscles in his legs are strong.

₁₈His bones are as strong as bronze,

and his legs are like iron bars.

₁₉The most amazing of all my creatures!

Only his Creator can defeat him.

₂₀Grass to feed him grows

on the hills where wild beasts play.

₂₁He lies down under the thorn bushes,

and hides among the reeds in the swamp.

₂₂The thorn bushes and the willows by the stream

give him shelter in their shade.

₂₃He is not afraid of a rushing river;

he is calm when the Jordan dashes in his face.

₂₄Who can blind his eyes and capture him?

Or who can catch his snout in a trap?

₁Can you catch Leviathan with a fish-hook

or tie his tongue down with a rope?

₂Can you put a rope through his snout

or put a hook through his jaws?

₃Will he beg you to let him go?

Will he plead with you for mercy?

₄Will he make an agreement with you

and promise to serve you for ever?

₅Will you tie him up like a pet bird,

like something to amuse your servant women?

₆Will fishermen bargain over him?

Will merchants cut him up to sell?

₇Can you fill his hide with fishing spears

or pierce his head with a harpoon?

₈Touch him once and you'll never try it again;

you'll never forget the fight!

₉Anyone who sees Leviathan

loses courage and falls to the ground.

₁₀When he is aroused, he is fierce;

no one would dare to stand before him.

₁₁Who can attack him and still be safe?

No one in all the world can do it.

₁₂Let me tell you about Leviathan's legs

and describe how great and strong he is.

₁₃No one can tear off his outer coat

or pierce the armour he wears.

₁₄Who can make him open his jaws,

ringed with those terrifying teeth?

₁₅His back is made of rows of shields,

fastened together and hard as stone.

₁₆Each one is joined so tight to the next,

not even a breath can come between.

₁₇They all are fastened so firmly together

that nothing can ever pull them apart.

₁₈Light flashes when he sneezes,

and his eyes glow like the rising sun.

₁₉Flames blaze from his mouth,

and streams of sparks fly out.

₂₀Smoke comes pouring out of his nose,

like smoke from weeds burning under a pot.

₂₁His breath starts fires burning;

flames leap out of his mouth.

₂₂His neck is so powerful

that all who meet him are terrified.

₂₃There is not a weak spot in his skin;

it is as hard and unyielding as iron.

₂₄His stony heart is without fear,

as unyielding and hard as a millstone.

₂₅When he rises up, even the strongest are frightened;

they are helpless with fear.

₂₆There is no sword that can wound him;

no spear or arrow or lance that can harm him.

₂₇For him iron is as flimsy as straw,

and bronze as soft as rotten wood.

₂₈There is no arrow that can make him run;

rocks thrown at him are like bits of straw.

₂₉To him a club is a piece of straw,

and he laughs when men throw spears.

₃₀The scales on his belly are like jagged pieces of pottery;

they tear up the muddy ground like a threshing-sledge.

₃₁He churns up the sea like boiling water

and makes it bubble like a pot of oil.

₃₂He leaves a shining path behind him

and turns the sea to white foam.

₃₃There is nothing on earth to compare with him;

he is a creature that has no fear.

₃₄He looks down on even the proudest animals;

he is king of all wild beasts.

₂I know, LORD, that you are all-powerful;

that you can do everything you want.

₃You ask how I dare question your wisdom

when I am so very ignorant.

I talked about things I did not understand,

about marvels too great for me to know.

₄You told me to listen while you spoke

and to try to answer your questions.

₅In the past I knew only what others had told me,

but now I have seen you with my own eyes.

₆So I am ashamed of all I have said

and repent in dust and ashes.