rsv Job:40-42 SEEK
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And the LORD said to Job :
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Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty ?
He who argues with God ,
let him answer it ."
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Then Job answered the LORD :
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Behold ,
I am of small account ;
what shall I answer thee ?
I lay my hand on my mouth .
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I have spoken once ,
and I will not answer ;
twice ,
but I will proceed no further ."
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Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind :
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Gird up your loins like a man ;
I will question you ,
and you declare to me .
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Will you even put me in the wrong ?
Will you condemn me that you may be justified ?
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Have you an arm like God ,
and can you thunder with a voice like his ?
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Deck yourself with majesty and dignity ;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor .
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Pour forth the overflowings of your anger ,
and look on every one that is proud ,
and abase him .
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Look on every one that is proud ,
and bring him low ;
and tread down the wicked where they stand .
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Hide them all in the dust together ;
bind their faces in the world below .
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Then will I also acknowledge to you ,
that your own right hand can give you victory .
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Behold ,
Be '
hemoth ,
which I made as I made you ;
he eats grass like an ox .
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Behold ,
his strength in his loins ,
and his power in the muscles of his belly .
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He makes his tail stiff like a cedar ;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together .
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His bones are tubes of bronze ,
his limbs like bars of iron .
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He is the first of the works of God ;
let him who made him bring near his sword !
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For the mountains yield food for him where all the wild beasts play .
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Under the lotus plants he lies ,
in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh .
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For his shade the lotus trees cover him ;
the willows of the brook surround him .
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Behold ,
if the river is turbulent he is not frightened ;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth .
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Can one take him with hooks ,
or pierce his nose with a snare ?
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Can you draw out Levi '
athan with a fishhook ,
or press down his tongue with a cord ?
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Can you put a rope in his nose ,
or pierce his jaw with a hook ?
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Will he make many supplications to you ?
Will he speak to you soft words ?
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Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant for ever ?
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Will you play with him as with a bird ,
or will you put him on leash for your maidens ?
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Will traders bargain over him ?
Will they divide him up among the merchants ?
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Can you fill his skin with harpoons ,
or his head with fishing spears ?
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Lay hands on him ;
think of the battle ;
you will not do it again !
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Behold ,
the hope of a man is disappointed ;
he is laid low even at the sight of him .
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No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up .
Who then is he that can stand before me ?
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Who has given to me ,
that I should repay him ?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine .
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I will not keep silence concerning his limbs ,
or his mighty strength ,
or his goodly frame .
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Who can strip off his outer garment ?
Who can penetrate his double coat of mail ?
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Who can open the doors of his face ?
Round about his teeth is terror .
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His back is made of rows of shields ,
shut up closely as with a seal .
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One is so near to another that no air can come between them .
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They are joined one to another ;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated .
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His sneezings flash forth light ,
and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn .
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Out of his mouth go flaming torches ;
sparks of fire leap forth .
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Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke ,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes .
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His breath kindles coals ,
and a flame comes forth from his mouth .
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In his neck abides strength ,
and terror dances before him .
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The folds of his flesh cleave together ,
firmly cast upon him and immovable .
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His heart is hard as a stone ,
hard as the nether millstone .
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When he raises himself up the mighty are afraid ;
at the crashing they are beside themselves .
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Though the sword reaches him ,
it does not avail ;
nor the spear ,
the dart ,
or the javelin .
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He counts iron as straw ,
and bronze as rotten wood .
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The arrow cannot make him flee ;
for him slingstones are turned to stubble .
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Clubs are counted as stubble ;
he laughs at the rattle of javelins .
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His underparts are like sharp potsherds ;
he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire .
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He makes the deep boil like a pot ;
he makes the sea like a pot of ointment .
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Behind him he leaves a shining wake ;
one would think the deep to be hoary .
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Upon earth there is not his like ,
a creature without fear .
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He beholds everything that is high ;
he is king over all the sons of pride ."
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Then Job answered the LORD :
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I know that thou canst do all things ,
and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted .
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ho 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 .
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ear ,
and I will speak ;
I will question you ,
and you declare to me .'
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I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear ,
but now my eye sees thee ;
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therefore I despise myself ,
and repent in dust and ashes ."
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After the LORD had spoken these words to Job ,
the LORD said to Eli '
phaz the Te '
manite : "
My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends ;
for you have not spoken of me what is right ,
as my servant Job has .
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Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams ,
and go to my servant Job ,
and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering ;
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 ."
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So Eli '
phaz the Te '
manite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Na '
amathite went and did what the LORD had told them ;
and the LORD accepted Job '
s prayer .
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And 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 .
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Then 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 that the LORD had brought upon him ;
and each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold .
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And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning ;
and he had fourteen thousand sheep ,
six thousand camels ,
a thousand yoke of oxen ,
and a thousand she-asses .
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He had also seven sons and three daughters .
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And he called the name of the first Jemi '
mah ;
and the name of the second Kezi '
ah ;
and the name of the third Ker '
en-hap '
puch .
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And in all the land there were no women so fair as Job '
s daughters ;
and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers .
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And after this Job lived a hundred and forty years ,
and saw his sons ,
and his sons '
sons ,
four generations .
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And Job died ,
an old man ,
and full of days .
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even if these three men ,
Noah ,
Daniel ,
and Job ,
were in it ,
they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness ,
says the Lord GOD .
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even if Noah ,
Daniel ,
and Job were in it ,
as I live ,
says the Lord GOD ,
they would deliver neither son nor daughter ;
they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness .
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Behold ,
we call those happy who were steadfast .
You have heard of the steadfastness of Job ,
and you have seen the purpose of the Lord ,
how the Lord is compassionate and merciful .