A thoughtful guide for your walk of faith Read with context, practice with grace.
Wisdom & Poetry · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Job 40

Suffering, protest, limited human knowledge, friendship, and encounter with the sovereign God.

Old Testament

Job 40

1Moreover the LORD answered Job,

2“Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

3Then Job answered the LORD,

4“Behold, I am of small account. What will I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.

5I have spoken once, and I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

6Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

7“Now brace yourself like a man. I will question you, and you will answer me.

8Will you even annul my judgment? Will you condemn me, that you may be justified?

9Or do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like him?

10“Now deck yourself with excellency and dignity. Array yourself with honor and majesty.

11Pour out the fury of your anger. Look at everyone who is proud, and bring him low.

12Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him. Crush the wicked in their place.

13Hide them in the dust together. Bind their faces in the hidden place.

14Then I will also admit to you that your own right hand can save you.

15“See now behemoth, which I made as well as you. He eats grass as an ox.

16Look now, his strength is in his thighs. His force is in the muscles of his belly.

17He moves his tail like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are knit together.

18His bones are like tubes of bronze. His limbs are like bars of iron.

19He is the chief of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword.

20Surely the mountains produce food for him, where all the animals of the field play.

21He lies under the lotus trees, in the covert of the reed, and the marsh.

22The lotuses cover him with their shade. The willows of the brook surround him.

23Behold, if a river overflows, he doesn’t tremble. He is confident, though the Jordan swells even to his mouth.

24Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare?

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Suffering, protest, limited human knowledge, friendship, and encounter with the sovereign God. Read Job 40 within the complete Job overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Job 40

Job 40 contains 24 verses and about 336 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “Moreover the LORD answered Job,” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 24 closes: “Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare?” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include will, like, answer, answered, yourself, look. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Job 40

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Job 40:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer