Job 41
1 Can you pull out Leviathan with a hook? Can you tie its mouth shut?
“Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you thread a rope through its nose? Can you pass a hook through its jaw?
Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will it beg you to let it go? Or will it talk softly to you?
Will he beg you for mercy or speak to you softly?
4 Will it make a contract with you? Will it agree to be your slave forever?
Will he make a covenant with you to take him as a slave for life?
5 Will you play with it like a pet bird? Will you put it on a leash for your girls?
Can you pet him like a bird or put him on a leash for your maidens?
6 Will your trading partners decide on a price for him, and divide him up among the merchants?
Will traders barter for him or divide him among the merchants?
7 Can you pierce his skin with many harpoons, its head with fishing spears?
Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
8 If you were to grab hold of it, imagine the battle you would have! You wouldn't do that again!
If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the battle and never repeat it!
9 Any hope to capture it is foolish. Anyone who tries is thrown to the ground.
Surely hope of overcoming him is false. Is not the sight of him overwhelming?
10 Since no one has the courage to provoke Leviathan, who would dare to stand up against me?
No one is so fierce as to rouse Leviathan. Then who is able to stand against Me?
11 Who has confronted me with any claim that I should repay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.
12 Let me tell you about Leviathan: its powerful legs and graceful proportions.
I cannot keep silent about his limbs, his power and graceful form.
13 Who can remove its hide? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor?
Who can strip off his outer coat? Who can approach him with a bridle?
14 Who can open its jaws? Its teeth are terrifying!
Who can open his jaws, ringed by his fearsome teeth?
15 Its pride is its rows of scales, closed tightly together.
His rows of scales are his pride, tightly sealed together.
16 Its scales are so close together that no air can pass between them.
One scale is so near to another that no air can pass between them.
17 Each scale attaches to the next; they lock together and nothing can penetrate them.
They are joined to one another; they clasp and cannot be separated.
18 When it sneezes light shines out. Its eyes are like the rising sun.
His snorting flashes with light, and his eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 Flames pour from its mouth, sparks of fire shoot out.
Firebrands stream from his mouth; fiery sparks shoot forth!
20 Smoke comes from its nostrils, like steam from a kettle on a fire made of reeds.
Smoke billows from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21 Its breath sets fire to charcoal as flames shoot from its mouth.
His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour from his mouth.
22 Its neck is powerful, and all who face him shake with terror.
Strength resides in his neck, and dismay leaps before him.
23 Its body is dense and solid, as if it is made from cast metal.
The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
24 Its heart is rock-hard, like a millstone.
His chest is as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone!
25 When it rises, even the powerful are terrified; they retreat as it thrashes about.
When Leviathan rises up, the mighty are terrified; they withdraw before his thrashing.
26 Swords just bounce off it, as do spears, darts, and javelins.
The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or dart or arrow.
27 It brushes aside iron like straw, and bronze like rotten wood.
He regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.
28 Arrows cannot make it run away; stones from slingshots are like pieces of stubble.
No arrow can make him flee; slingstones become like chaff to him.
29 Clubs are also treated like stubble; it laughs at the sound made by flying spears.
A club is regarded as straw, and he laughs at the sound of the lance.
30 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.
His undersides are jagged potsherds, spreading out the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 It churns up the sea like water in a boiling pot, like a steaming bowl when ointment is mixed.
He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; he makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it as if the sea had white hair.
He leaves a glistening wake behind him; one would think the deep had white hair!
33 There is nothing on earth like it: a creature that has no fear.
Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature devoid of fear!
34 It looks down on all other creatures. It is the proudest of all.”
He looks down on all the haughty; he is king over all the proud.”
