Dual Panel1Then the LORD said to Job,
2"Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?"
3Then Job replied to the LORD,
4"I am nothing––how could I ever find the answers? I will put my hand over my mouth in silence.
5I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say."
6Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
7"Brace yourself, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.
8Are you going to discredit my justice and condemn me so you can say you are right?
9Are you as strong as God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10All right then, put on your robes of state, your majesty and splendor.
11Give vent to your anger. Let it overflow against the proud.
12Humiliate the proud with a glance; walk on the wicked where they stand.
13Bury them in the dust. Imprison them in the world of the dead.
14Then even I would praise you, for your own strength would save you.
15"Take a look at the mighty hippopotamus. I made it, just as I made you. It eats grass like an ox.
16See its powerful loins and the muscles of its belly.
17Its tail is as straight as a cedar. The sinews of its thighs are tightly knit together.
18Its bones are tubes of bronze. Its limbs are bars of iron.
19It is a prime example of God’s amazing handiwork. Only its Creator can threaten it.
20The mountains offer it their best food, where all the wild animals play.
21It lies down under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds.
22The lotus plants give it shade among the willows beside the stream.
23It is not disturbed by raging rivers, not even when the swelling Jordan rushes down upon it.
24No one can catch it off guard or put a ring in its nose and lead it away.