Job 41
1 Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook, or canst thou tie his tongue with a cord?
Can you pull out Leviathan with a hook? Can you tie its mouth shut?
2 Canst thou put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with a buckle?
Can you thread a rope through its nose? Can you pass a hook through its jaw?
3 Will he make many supplications to thee, or speak soft words to thee?
Will it beg you to let it go? Or will it talk softly to you?
4 Will he make a covenant with thee, and wilt thou take him to be a servant for ever?
Will it make a contract with you? Will it agree to be your slave forever?
5 Shalt thou play with him as with a bird, or tie him up for thy handmaids?
Will you play with it like a pet bird? Will you put it on a leash for your girls?
6 Shall friends cut him in pieces, shall merchants divide him?
Will your trading partners decide on a price for him, and divide him up among the merchants?
7 Wilt thou fill nets with his skin, and the cabins of fishes with his head?
Can you pierce his skin with many harpoons, its head with fishing spears?
8 Lay thy hand upon him: remember the battle, and speak no more.
If you were to grab hold of it, imagine the battle you would have! You wouldn't do that again!
9 Behold his hope shall fail him, and in the sight of all he shall be cast down.
Any hope to capture it is foolish. Anyone who tries is thrown to the ground.
10 I will not stir him up, like one that is cruel: for who can resist my countenance?
Since no one has the courage to provoke Leviathan, who would dare to stand up against me?
11 Who hath given me before that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine.
Who has confronted me with any claim that I should repay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 I will not spare him, nor his mighty words, and framed to make supplication.
Let me tell you about Leviathan: its powerful legs and graceful proportions.
13 Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can go into the midst of his mouth?
Who can remove its hide? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor?
14 Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.
Who can open its jaws? Its teeth are terrifying!
15 His body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales pressing upon one another.
Its pride is its rows of scales, closed tightly together.
16 One is joined to another, and not so much as any air can come between them:
Its scales are so close together that no air can pass between them.
17 They stick one to another and they hold one another fast, and shall not be separated.
Each scale attaches to the next; they lock together and nothing can penetrate them.
18 His sneezing is like the shining of fire, and his eyes like the eyelids of the morning.
When it sneezes light shines out. Its eyes are like the rising sun.
19 Out of his mouth go forth lamps, like torches of lighted fire.
Flames pour from its mouth, sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, like that of a pot heated and boiling.
Smoke comes from its nostrils, like steam from a kettle on a fire made of reeds.
21 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame cometh forth out of his mouth.
Its breath sets fire to charcoal as flames shoot from its mouth.
22 In his neck strength shall dwell, and want goeth before his face.
Its neck is powerful, and all who face him shake with terror.
23 The members of his flesh cleave one to another: he shall send lightnings against him, and they shall not be carried to another place.
Its body is dense and solid, as if it is made from cast metal.
24 His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a smith’s anvil.
Its heart is rock-hard, like a millstone.
25 When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and being affrighted shall purify themselves.
When it rises, even the powerful are terrified; they retreat as it thrashes about.
26 When a sword shall lay at him, it shall not be able to hold, nor a spear, nor a breastplate.
Swords just bounce off it, as do spears, darts, and javelins.
27 For he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.
It brushes aside iron like straw, and bronze like rotten wood.
28 The archer shall not put him to flight, the stones of the sling are to him like stubble.
Arrows cannot make it run away; stones from slingshots are like pieces of stubble.
29 As stubble will he esteem the hammer, and he will laugh him to scorn who shaketh the spear.
Clubs are also treated like stubble; it laughs at the sound made by flying spears.
30 The beams of the sun shall be under him, and he shall strew gold under him like mire.
Its underparts are covered with points as sharp as broken pots; when it drags itself through the mud it leaves marks like a threshing sledge.
31 He shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot, and shall make it as when ointments boil.
It churns up the sea like water in a boiling pot, like a steaming bowl when ointment is mixed.
32 A path shall shine after him, he shall esteem the deep as growing old.
It leaves a glistening wake behind it as if the sea had white hair.
33 There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him who was made to fear no one.
There is nothing on earth like it: a creature that has no fear.
34 He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the children of pride.
It looks down on all other creatures. It is the proudest of all.”
