Job 41
1 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
Canst thou draw out the Crocodile with a fish-hook? Or, with a cord, canst thou fasten down his tongue?
2 Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?
Wilt thou put a rush-cord on his nose? or, with a thorn, wilt thou pierce his jaw?
3 Will he beg you for mercy or speak to you softly?
Will he multiply unto thee supplications, or will he speak unto thee softly?
4 Will he make a covenant with you to take him as a slave for life?
Will he solemnise a covenant with thee? Wilt thou take him for a life-long servant?
5 Can you pet him like a bird or put him on a leash for your maidens?
Wilt thou sport with him, as with a little bird? Or wilt thou bind him, for thy maidens?
6 Will traders barter for him or divide him among the merchants?
Shall the companions bargain over him? or will they part him among the traders?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
Wilt thou fill, with darts, his skin? or, with fish-spears, his head?
8 If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the battle and never repeat it!
Lay thou upon him thy hand, remember the battle—no more!
9 Surely hope of overcoming him is false. Is not the sight of him overwhelming?
Lo! any hope of him, hath been found deceptive, Even at the sight of him, shall not one be overwhelmed?
10 No one is so fierce as to rouse Leviathan. Then who is able to stand against Me?
None so bold, that he will rouse him! Who then is he that, before me, can stand?
11 Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.
Who hath forestalled me, that I may repay him? Under all the heavens, mine it is!
12 I cannot keep silent about his limbs, his power and graceful form.
I will not pass by in silence his parts, or the matter of strength, or the grace of his armour.
13 Who can strip off his outer coat? Who can approach him with a bridle?
Who hath removed his outer garment, through his double row of teeth, who would enter?
14 Who can open his jaws, ringed by his fearsome teeth?
The doors of his face, who hath opened? The circles of his teeth, are a terror!
15 His rows of scales are his pride, tightly sealed together.
A pride, are his arched sides, closed up, with a firm seal;
16 One scale is so near to another that no air can pass between them.
One to another, they join, and, air, cannot enter between them;
17 They are joined to one another; they clasp and cannot be separated.
Each to its fellow, they cleave, they grasp each other, and cannot be parted;
18 His snorting flashes with light, and his eyes are like the rays of dawn.
His sneezings, flash forth light, and, his eyes, are like the eyelashes of the dawn;
19 Firebrands stream from his mouth; fiery sparks shoot forth!
Out of his mouth, torches dart forth, sparks of fire, escape;
20 Smoke billows from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
Out of his nostrils, proceedeth smoke, like a blown pot and rushes;
21 His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour from his mouth.
His breath, setteth coals ablaze, and, a flame, out of his mouth, proceedeth;
22 Strength resides in his neck, and dismay leaps before him.
In his neck, lodgeth strength, and, before him, danceth dismay;
23 The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
The dewlaps of his flesh, cleave together, hardened upon him, they cannot be moved;
24 His chest is as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone!
His heart, is hardened like a stone, yea hardened, like the nether millstone;
25 When Leviathan rises up, the mighty are terrified; they withdraw before his thrashing.
At his rising up, mighty men are afraid, by reason of terror, they are beside themselves:
26 The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or dart or arrow.
As for him that assaileth him, the sword availeth not, spear, dart, or coat of mail:
27 He regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.
He counteth iron as broken straw, and bronze as rotten wood:
28 No arrow can make him flee; slingstones become like chaff to him.
The arrow, will not make him flee, Into chaff, are sling-stones changed by him:
29 A club is regarded as straw, and he laughs at the sound of the lance.
As a straw, is a club accounted, and he laugheth at the whir of the javelin;
30 His undersides are jagged potsherds, spreading out the mud like a threshing sledge.
His underparts, are points of potsherd, a pointed threshing roller spreadeth out upon the slime:
31 He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; he makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
He causeth to boil, as a cauldron, the raging deep, the sea, he maketh like a brewing vessel:
32 He leaves a glistening wake behind him; one would think the deep had white hair!
After him, he lighteth up a path, one might think the resounding deep to be hoary!
33 Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature devoid of fear!
There is not—upon the dust—his like, that hath been made to be without fear;
34 He looks down on all the haughty; he is king over all the proud.”
Every thing lofty, he beholdeth, he, is king over all ravenous beasts.
