Job 41
1 Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook, or canst thou tie his tongue with a cord?
Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or tie up his jaws with a cord?
2 Canst thou put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with a buckle?
Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
3 Will he make many supplications to thee, or speak soft words to thee?
Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak soft words to you?
4 Will he make a covenant with thee, and wilt thou take him to be a servant for ever?
Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?
5 Shalt thou play with him as with a bird, or tie him up for thy handmaids?
Will you play with him as you would with a bird? Will you tie him up for your servant girls?
6 Shall friends cut him in pieces, shall merchants divide him?
Will the groups of fishermen bargain for him? Will they divide him up to trade among the merchants?
7 Wilt thou fill nets with his skin, and the cabins of fishes with his head?
Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay thy hand upon him: remember the battle, and speak no more.
Put your hand on him just once, and you will remember the battle and do it no more.
9 Behold his hope shall fail him, and in the sight of all he shall be cast down.
See, the hope of anyone who does that is a lie; will not anyone be thrown down to the ground just by the sight of him?
10 I will not stir him up, like one that is cruel: for who can resist my countenance?
None is so fierce that he dare stir Leviathan up; who, then, is he who can stand before me?
11 Who hath given me before that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine.
Who has first given anything to me in order that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole sky is mine.
12 I will not spare him, nor his mighty words, and framed to make supplication.
I will not keep silent concerning Leviathan's legs, nor about the matter of his strength, nor about his graceful form.
13 Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can go into the midst of his mouth?
Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double armor?
14 Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.
Who can open the doors of his face— ringed with his teeth, which are a terror?
15 His body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales pressing upon one another.
his back is made up of rows of shields, tight together as with a close seal.
16 One is joined to another, and not so much as any air can come between them:
One is so near to another that no air can come between them.
17 They stick one to another and they hold one another fast, and shall not be separated.
They are joined to each other; they stick together, so that they cannot be pulled apart.
18 His sneezing is like the shining of fire, and his eyes like the eyelids of the morning.
Light flashes out from his snorting; his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning dawn.
19 Out of his mouth go forth lamps, like torches of lighted fire.
Out of his mouth go burning torches, sparks of fire leap out.
20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, like that of a pot heated and boiling.
Out of his nostrils goes smoke like a boiling pot on a fire that has been fanned to be very hot.
21 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame cometh forth out of his mouth.
His breath kindles coals into flame; fires go out from his mouth.
22 In his neck strength shall dwell, and want goeth before his face.
In his neck is strength, and terror dances in front of him.
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.
The folds of his flesh are joined together; they are firm on him; they cannot be moved.
24 His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a smith’s anvil.
His heart is as hard as a stone— indeed, as hard as a lower millstone.
25 When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and being affrighted shall purify themselves.
When he raises himself up, even the gods become afraid; because of fear, they draw back.
26 When a sword shall lay at him, it shall not be able to hold, nor a spear, nor a breastplate.
If a sword strikes him, it does nothing— and neither does a spear, an arrow, or any other pointed weapon.
27 For he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.
He thinks of iron as if it were straw, and of bronze as if it were rotten wood.
28 The archer shall not put him to flight, the stones of the sling are to him like stubble.
An arrow cannot make him flee; to him sling stones become chaff.
29 As stubble will he esteem the hammer, and he will laugh him to scorn who shaketh the spear.
Clubs are regarded as straw; he laughs at the whirring flight of a spear.
30 The beams of the sun shall be under him, and he shall strew gold under him like mire.
His lower parts are like sharp pieces of broken pottery; he leaves a spreading trail in the mud as if he were a threshing sledge.
31 He shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot, and shall make it as when ointments boil.
He makes the deep to foam up like a pot of boiling water; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 A path shall shine after him, he shall esteem the deep as growing old.
He makes a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had gray hair.
33 There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him who was made to fear no one.
On earth there is no equal to him, who has been made to live without fear.
34 He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the children of pride.
He sees everything that is proud; he is king over all the sons of pride.”
