1God continued speaking to Job.

2“Are you still going to fight with the Almighty and try to set him straight? ²⁸⁰Anyone who argues with God must give some answers.”

3Job answered the Lord,

4“Me—I am nothing at all. I have no answers. I put my hand in front of my mouth.

5I have already said far too much and I won't say anything more.”

6Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,

7“Prepare yourself, be strong, for I am going to question you, and you must answer me.

8Are you really going to say my decisions are wrong? ²⁸¹Are you going to condemn me so you can be right?

9Are you as powerful as I am? Does your voice thunder like mine?

10Why don't you dress yourself with majesty and dignity, and clothe yourself with glory and splendor!

11Let loose your fierce anger. Humble the proud with a glance.

12Bring down the proud with your gaze; tread the wicked underfoot right where they are.

13Bury them in the dust; lock them away in the grave.

14Then I will also agree that your own strength can save you.

15Consider Behemoth, ²⁸²a creature I made just like I made you. It eats grass like cattle.

16Look at its powerful loins, the muscles of its belly.

17It bends its tail like a cedar; its thigh sinews are strong.

18Its bones are like bronze tubes; its limbs like iron rods.

19It is the most important example of what God can do; only the one who made it can approach it with a sword. ²⁸³

20The hills produce food for it, and all the wild animals play there. ²⁸⁴

21It lies under the lotus; ²⁸⁵it hides in the reeds of the marsh.

22The lotus covers it with shade; the willow trees of the valley surround it.

23Even if the river is in flood, it is not concerned; it remains calm when the Jordan river surges against it.

24No one can catch it while it is watching, or pierce its nose with a noose.” ²⁸⁶