The XL. Chapter.
THen spake the LORDE vnto Iob out [ A] of the storme, and sayde: gyrde vp ye loynes like a man,* 1.1 and tell me the thī¦ge that I will axe the. Wilt thou disanulle my iudgment? Or, wilt thou condemne me, yt thou thy self mayest be made rightuous? Is thine arme then like the arme of God? Maketh thy voyce soch a soūde as his doth? Then arme thy self with thine owne power, vp, decke the in thy ioly araye, poure out the indignacion of thy wrath: se that thou cast downe all ye proude, loke well, that thou ma¦kest all soch as be stubburne, to obeye: treade all the vngodly vnder thy fete, cast thē dow∣ne in to the myre, and couer their faces with darcknesse: Then will I confesse also, that thyne owne right honde hath saued the.
Beholde, the cruell beaste (whom I made [ B] wt the) which eateth haye as an oxe: lo, how stronge he is in his loynes, and what power he hath in the nauell of his body. He spre∣deth out his tale like a Cedre tre, all his vay¦nes are stiff. His shynnes are like pipes off brasse, his rygge bones are like staues of yrō First when God made him, he ordened the wyldernesse for him, yt the mountaynes shul¦de geue him grasse, where all the beastes off the felde take their pastyme. He lyeth amōge the redes in the Mosses, the fennes hyde him with their shadowe, and the wylowes of the broke couer him rounde aboute. Lo, without eny laboure might he drynke out the whole floude, and suppe off Iordane without eny trauayle. Who darre laye honde vpon him o¦penly, and vndertake to catch him? Or, who darre put an hoke thorow his nose, ād laye a snare for him?
Darrest thou drawe out Leuiathan with [ C] an angle, or bynde his tonge with a snare?* 1.2 Canst thou put a rynge in the nose of him, or bore his chaftes thorow with a naule? Wyll he make many fayre wordes with the (thyn∣kest thou) or flatre the? Wyll he make a coue¦naunt with the? Or, art thou able for to com¦pell him to do the contynuall seruyce? Wilt thou take thy pastyne wt him as with a byr∣de, or geue him vnto thy maydens, that thy companyons maye hew him in peces, to be parted amonge the marchaunt men? Canst thou fyll the nett wt his skynne, or ye fysh pā¦nyer with his heade? Darrest thou laye hon∣de vpon him? It is better for the to considre what harme might happē the there thorow and not to touch him. For when thou thyn∣kest to haue holde vpon him, he shall begyle the: Euery man also that seyth him, shall go backe. And why? there darre none be so bol∣de, as to rayse him vp.