1   Then the Lord said to Job:

2   Is it for a man who disputes with the Almighty to be stubborn?
Should he that argues with God answer back?

3   And Job answered the Lord:

4   What reply can I give thee, I who carry no weight?
I put my finger to my lips.
5   I have spoken once and now will not answer again;
twice have I spoken, and I will do so no more.

6   Then the Lord answered Job out of the tempest:

7   Brace yourself and stand up like a man;
I will ask questions, and you shall answer.
8   Dare you deny that I am just
or put me in the wrong that you may be right?
9   Have you an arm like God's arm,
can you thunder with a voice like his?
10   Deck yourself out, if you can, in pride and dignity,
array yourself in pomp and splendour;
11   unleash the fury of your wrath,
look upon the proud man and humble him;
12   look upon every proud man and bring him low,
throw down the wicked where they stand;
13   hide them in the dust together,
and shroud them in an unknown grave.
14   Then I in my turn will acknowledge
that your own right hand can save you.

God's answer and Job's submission

15   Consider the chief of the beasts, the crocodile, ^note
who devours cattle as if they were grass: ^note
16   what strength is in his loins!
what power in the muscles of his belly!
17   His tail is rigid as ^note a cedar,
the sinews of his flanks are closely knit,
18   his bones are tubes of bronze,
and his limbs like bars of iron.
19   He is the chief of God's works, ^note
made to be a tyrant over his peers; ^note
20   for he takes ^note the cattle of the hills for his prey
and in his jaws he crunches all wild beasts.
21   There under the thorny lotus he lies,
hidden in the reeds and the marsh;
22   the lotus conceals him in its shadow,
the poplars of the stream surround him.
23   If the river is in spate, he is not scared,
he sprawls at his ease though the stream ^note is in flood.
24   Can a man blind ^note his eyes and take him
or pierce his nose with the teeth of a trap?

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