[1] The Lord went on: [2] "Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? Or will you yield? Do you-God's critic-have the answers?" [3] Then Job replied to God: [4] "I am nothing-how could I ever find the answers? I lay my hand upon my mouth in silence. [5] I have said too much already." [6] Then the Lord spoke to Job again from the whirlwind: [7] "Stand up like a man and brace yourself for battle. Let me ask you a question, and give me the answer. [8] Are you going to discredit my justice and condemn me so that you can say you are right? [9] Are you as strong as God, and can you shout as loudly as he? [10] All right then, put on your robes of state, your majesty and splendor. [11] Give vent to your anger. Let it overflow against the proud. [12] Humiliate the haughty with a glance; tread down the wicked where they stand. [13] Knock them into the dust, stone-faced in death. [14] If you can do that, then I'll agree with you that your own strength can save you. [15] "Take a look at the hippopotamus! I made him, too, just as I made you! He eats grass like an ox. [16] See his powerful loins and the muscles of his belly. [17] His tail is as straight as a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit together. [18] His vertebrae lie straight as a tube of brass. His ribs are like iron bars. [19] How ferocious he is among all of God's creation, so let whoever hopes to master him bring a sharp sword! [20] The mountains offer their best food to him-the other wild animals on which he preys. [21] He lies down under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds, [22] covered by their shade among the willows there beside the stream. [23] He is not disturbed by raging rivers, not even when the swelling Jordan rushes down upon him. [24] No one can catch him off guard or put a ring in his nose and lead him away.
