⁴ Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds^[b] ;
rejoice before him−his name is the Lord.
⁵ A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
⁶ God sets the lonely in families,^[c]
he leads out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

⁷ When you, God, went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,^[d]
8 the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
⁹ You gave abundant showers, O God;
you refreshed your weary inheritance.
¹⁰ Your people settled in it,
and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.

¹¹ The Lord announces the word,
and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng:
¹² "Kings and armies flee in haste;
the women at home divide the plunder.
¹³ Even while you sleep among the sheep pens,^[e]
the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver,
its feathers with shining gold."
¹⁴ When the Almighty^[f] scattered the kings in the land,
it was like snow fallen on Mount Zalmon.

¹⁵ Mount Bashan, majestic mountain,
Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,
¹⁶ why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain,
at the mountain where God chooses to reign,
where the Lord himself will dwell forever?
¹⁷ The chariots of God are tens of thousands
and thousands of thousands;
the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.^[g]
18 When you ascended on high,
you took many captives;
you received gifts from people,
even from^[h] the rebellious −
that you,^[i] Lord God, might dwell there.

¹⁹ Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.
²⁰ Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.
²¹ Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.
²² The Lord says, "I will bring them from Bashan;
I will bring them from the depths of the sea,
²³ that your feet may wade in the blood of your foes,
while the tongues of your dogs have their share."

²⁴ Your procession, God, has come into view,
the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.
²⁵ In front are the singers, after them the musicians;
with them are the young women playing the timbrels.
²⁶ Praise God in the great congregation;
praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel.
²⁷ There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them,
there the great throng of Judah’s princes,
and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.

²⁸ Summon your power, God^[j];
show us your strength, our God, as you have done before.
²⁹ Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings will bring you gifts.
³⁰ Rebuke the beast among the reeds,
the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations.
Humbled, may the beast bring bars of silver.
Scatter the nations who delight in war.
³¹ Envoys will come from Egypt;
Cush^[k] will submit herself to God.

³² Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth,
sing praise to the Lord,
³³ to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens,
who thunders with mighty voice.
³⁴ Proclaim the power of God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
whose power is in the heavens.
³⁵ You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary;
the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.

Praise be to God!

² "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!"

⁴ "I am unworthy −how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
⁵ I spoke once, but I have no answer −
twice, but I will say no more."

⁷ "Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

⁸ "Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
⁹ Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
¹⁰ Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
¹¹ Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at all who are proud and bring them low,
¹² look at all who are proud and humble them,
crush the wicked where they stand.
¹³ Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.
¹⁴ Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵ "Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.
¹⁶ What strength it has in its loins,
what power in the muscles of its belly!
¹⁷ Its tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
¹⁸ Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like rods of iron.
¹⁹ It ranks first among the works of God,
yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.
²⁰ The hills bring it their produce,
and all the wild animals play nearby.
²¹ Under the lotus plants it lies,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
²² The lotuses conceal it in their shadow;
the poplars by the stream surround it.
²³ A raging river does not alarm it;
it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth.
²⁴ Can anyone capture it by the eyes,
or trap it and pierce its nose?

41 ^[a]"Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down its tongue with a rope?
² Can you put a cord through its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
³ Will it keep begging you for mercy?
Will it speak to you with gentle words?
⁴ Will it make an agreement with you
for you to take it as your slave for life?
⁵ Can you make a pet of it like a bird
or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
⁶ Will traders barter for it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
⁷ Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
⁸ If you lay a hand on it,
you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
⁹ Any hope of subduing it is false;
the mere sight of it is overpowering.
¹⁰ No one is fierce enough to rouse it.
Who then is able to stand against me?
¹¹ Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.

¹² "I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs,
its strength and its graceful form.
¹³ Who can strip off its outer coat?
Who can penetrate its double coat of armor^[b]?
¹⁴ Who dares open the doors of its mouth,
ringed about with fearsome teeth?
¹⁵ Its back has^[c] rows of shields
tightly sealed together;
¹⁶ each is so close to the next
that no air can pass between.
¹⁷ They are joined fast to one another;
they cling together and cannot be parted.
¹⁸ Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
¹⁹ Flames stream from its mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.
²⁰ Smoke pours from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
²¹ Its breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames dart from its mouth.
²² Strength resides in its neck;
dismay goes before it.
²³ The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm and immovable.
²⁴ Its chest is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.
²⁵ When it rises up, the mighty are terrified;
they retreat before its thrashing.
²⁶ The sword that reaches it has no effect,
nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
²⁷ Iron it treats like straw
and bronze like rotten wood.
²⁸ Arrows do not make it flee;
slingstones are like chaff to it.
²⁹ A club seems to it but a piece of straw;
it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
³⁰ Its undersides are jagged potsherds,
leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
³¹ It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
³² It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
one would think the deep had white hair.
³³ Nothing on earth is its equal −
a creature without fear.
³⁴ It looks down on all that are haughty;
it is king over all that are proud. "

² "I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
³ You asked, ’Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

⁴ "You said, ’Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
⁵ My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
⁶ Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes."