Job 41
1 Can you draw out the leviathan with a hook, and can you bind his tongue with a cord?
Is it possible for Leviathan to be pulled out with a fish-hook, or for a hook to be put through the bone of his mouth?
2 Can you place a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with an arm band?
Will you put a cord into his nose, or take him away with a cord round his tongue?
3 Will he offer many prayers to you, or speak to you quietly?
Will he make prayers to you, or say soft words to you?
4 Will he form a covenant with you, and will you accept him as a servant forever?
Will he make an agreement with you, so that you may take him as a servant for ever?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird, or tether him for your handmaids?
Will you make sport with him, as with a bird? or put him in chains for your young women?
6 Will your friends cut him into pieces, will dealers distribute him?
Will the fishermen make profit out of him? will they have him cut up for the traders?
7 Will you fill up bags with his hide, and let his head be used as a home for fishes?
Will you put sharp-pointed irons into his skin, or fish-spears into his head?
8 Place your hand upon him; remember the battle and speak no more.
Only put your hand on him, and see what a fight you will have; you will not do it again!
9 Behold, his hope will fail him, and in the sight of all, he will be thrown down.
Truly, the hope of his attacker is false; he is overcome even on seeing him!
10 I will not rouse him, as the cruel would do, for who is able to withstand my countenance?
He is so cruel that no one is ready to go against him. Who then is able to keep his place before me?
11 Who has given to me beforehand, so that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine.
Who ever went against me, and got the better of me? There is no one under heaven!
12 I will not spare him, nor his powerful words and counterfeit attempts at supplication.
I will not keep quiet about the parts of his body, or about his power, and the strength of his frame.
13 Who can reveal the beauty of his garment? And who can enter the middle of his mouth?
Who has ever taken off his outer skin? who may come inside his inner coat of iron?
14 Who can open the doors of his face? I gave fear to the circle of his teeth.
Who has made open the doors of his face? Fear is round about his teeth.
15 His body is like shields fused together, like dense scales pressed over one another.
His back is made of lines of plates, joined tight together, one against the other, like a stamp.
16 One is joined to another, and not even air can pass between them.
One is so near to the other that no air may come between them.
17 They adhere to one another, and they hold themselves in place and will not be separated.
They take a grip of one another; they are joined together, so that they may not be parted.
18 His sneezing has the brilliance of fire, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
His sneezings give out flames, and his eyes are like the eyes of the dawn.
19 Lamps proceed from his mouth, like torches of fire burning brightly.
Out of his mouth go burning lights, and flames of fire are jumping up.
20 Smoke passes out of his nostrils, like a pot that is heated and boiling.
Smoke comes out of his nose, like a pot boiling on the fire.
21 His breath causes coal to burn, and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
His breath puts fire to coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth.
22 Strength dwells in his neck, and destitution goes before his presence.
Strength is in his neck, and fear goes dancing before him.
23 The parts of his body work in harmony together. He will send lightning bolts against him, and they will not be carried to another place.
The plates of his flesh are joined together, fixed, and not to be moved.
24 His heart will be as hard as a stone and as dense as a blacksmith’s anvil.
His heart is as strong as a stone, hard as the lower crushing-stone.
25 When he will be raised up, the angels will be afraid, and, because they are terrified, they will purify themselves.
When he gets ready for the fight, the strong are overcome with fear.
26 When a sword catches up with him, it will not be able to settle in, nor a spear, nor a breastplate.
The sword may come near him but is not able to go through him; the spear, or the arrow, or the sharp-pointed iron.
27 For he will consider iron as if it were chaff, and brass as if it were rotten wood.
Iron is to him as dry grass, and brass as soft wood.
28 The archer will not cause him to flee; the stones of the sling have been turned into stubble for him.
The arrow is not able to put him to flight: stones are no more to him than dry stems.
29 He will treat the hammer as if it were stubble, and he will ridicule those who brandish the spear.
A thick stick is no better than a leaf of grass, and he makes sport of the onrush of the spear.
30 The beams of the sun will be under him, and he will dispense gold to them as if it were clay.
Under him are sharp edges of broken pots: as if he was pulling a grain-crushing instrument over the wet earth.
31 He will make the depths of the sea boil like a pot, and he will set it to bubble just as ointments do.
The deep is boiling like a pot of spices, and the sea like a perfume-vessel.
32 A path will shine after him; he will esteem the abyss as if it were weakening with age.
After him his way is shining, so that the deep seems white.
33 There is no power on the earth that is being compared to him, who has been made so that he fears no one.
On earth there is not another like him, who is made without fear.
34 He sees every prominent thing; he is king over all the sons of arrogance.
Everything which is high goes in fear of him; he is king over all the sons of pride.
