What does Job Chapter 40 say, and which statements belong to its speaker?

As indicated in the chapter summary, the text displays the power of God in the behemoth and the leviathan. Answering Job out of the whirlwind, the Lord commands him to gird up his loins like a man, prepared to respond to divine questions. God asks directly whether Job intends to make void His judgment, condemning the Creator so that he himself might appear justified. The Lord challenges him: does Job possess an arm like God, or can he thunder with a voice of equal power? If so, let Job clothe himself with majesty and beauty, put on glorious garments, scatter the proud in his fury, look upon every arrogant person to humble him, crush the wicked where they stand, and bury them together in the dust of the pit. If Job can accomplish this moral governance, God declares that He will openly acknowledge that Job's own right hand is capable of saving him.

In the Lord’s speech, the Lord directs Job's contemplation to Behemoth, a beast made with Job who feeds upon grass like an ox. As the Challoner annotation explains, the Hebrew term designates an animal in general, but many commentators understand it here as the elephant. His strength resides in his loins and the force of his belly; his tail is stiff as a cedar, the sinews of his testicles are closely knit, his bones are sturdy like pipes of brass, and his gristle is firm like plates of iron. As the beginning of God’s ways, He who made him will apply His sword—which Challoner notes is variously interpreted as the animal's defensive horn, his God-given strength, or the divine authority granted to man to slay him. Mountains produce pasturage for him where wild beasts play, while he sleeps under shadow in the covert of reeds and moist places, in the covert of moist places, sheltered by the willows of the brook. He can drink up a rushing river without alarm, confident that the Jordan itself could pour into his mouth, and the passage says he shall take him in his eyes as with a hook and bore his nostrils with stakes.

In the Lord’s speech, the Lord then introduces Leviathan, explained by Challoner as the whale or a formidable sea monster. God asks whether Job can draw out Leviathan with a hook, bind his tongue with a cord, pierce his nostrils with a ring, or bore his jaw with a buckle. Will this ferocious marine beast offer humble supplications, speak gentle words, or enter a covenant of perpetual servitude? Can a mortal play with him as with a pet bird, or tie him up as an amusement for maidservants? Will fishing companions carve him into portions or merchants divide him in the marketplace? Can his hide be filled with nets or the cabins of fishes with his head? The Lord warns Job to lay his hand upon him, remember the magnitude of the combat, and speak no more, for his hope will fail him and he will be cast down in the sight of all.