Job Chapter 41 to 42 : English Standard Version   | SearchSearch | Next Version | Previous Page | Next Page |

Other Versions41 41:1 [1] “Can you draw out Leviathan[2] with a fishhook   or press down his tongue with a cord? 2Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? 3Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words? 4Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? 5Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls? 6Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? 7Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? 8Lay your hands on him; remember the battle—you will not do it again! 9 [3] Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him. 10No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me? 11Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

12“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. 13Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle? 14Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. 15His back is made of 4] rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal. 16One is so near to another that no air can come between them. 17They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated. 18His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. 19Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. 20Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. 21His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth. 22In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him. 23The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable. 24His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone. 25When he raises himself up the mighty[5] are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves. 26Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. 27He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. 28The arrow cannot make him flee; for him sling stones are turned to stubble. 29Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of javelins. 30His underparts are like sharp potsherds; he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire. 31He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. 32Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be white-haired. 33On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear. 34He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride.”

[1] Ch 40:25 in Hebrew  [2] A large sea animal, exact identity unknown  [3] Ch 41:1 in Hebrew  [4] Or His pride is in his  [5] Or gods


42 Job’s Confession and Repentance

42:1 Then Job answered the Lord and said:

2“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ 5I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6therefore I despise myself, and repent[6] in dust and ashes.”

The Lord Rebukes Job’s Friends

7After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

The Lord Restores Job’s Fortunes

10And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil[7] that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money[8] and a ring of gold.

12And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. 17And Job died, an old man, and full of days.  

[6] Or and am comforted  [7] Or disaster  [8] Hebrew a qesitah; a unit of money of unknown value

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