Job 41
1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or tie up his jaws with a cord?
“[Think also about] (crocodiles/great sea dragons). Can you catch them with a fishhook or fasten their jaws with a rope?
2 Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
Can you put ropes through their noses [to control them] or thrust hooks through their jaws?
3 Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak soft words to you?
Will they plead with you to act mercifully toward them or (use sweet talk/speak to you nicely) [in order that you will not harm them]?
4 Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?
Will they make an agreement with you to work for you, to be your slaves as long as they live?
5 Will you play with him as you would with a bird? Will you tie him up for your servant girls?
Can you cause them to become pets like you cause birds to become your pets? Can you put a leash/rope around their [necks] so that your servant girls [can play with them]?
6 Will the groups of fishermen bargain for him? Will they divide him up to trade among the merchants?
Will merchants try to buy them [in the market]? Will they cut them up into pieces and sell the meat?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
Can you pierce their skins by throwing fishing spears at them? Can you pierce their heads with a harpoon?
8 Put your hand on him just once, and you will remember the battle and do it no more.
If you grab one of them with your hands, it will fight you in a way that you will never forget, and you will never try to do it again!
9 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?
It is useless to try to subdue them. Anyone who tries to subdue one of them will lose his courage.
10 None is so fierce that he dare stir Leviathan up; who, then, is he who can stand before me?
No one dares/tries to (arouse them/cause them to be angry). So, [since I am much more powerful than they are, ] (who would dare to cause me to be angry?/no one would dare to cause me to be angry!) [RHQ]
11 Who has first given anything to me in order that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole sky is mine.
Also, everything on the earth is mine. Therefore, no one [RHQ] is able to give anything to me and require me to pay [money] for it!
12 I will not keep silent concerning Leviathan's legs, nor about the matter of his strength, nor about his graceful form.
I will tell you about [how strong] crocodiles' legs [are] and how strong their well-formed bodies are.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double armor?
(Can anyone strip off their hides?/No one is able to strip off their hides.) [RHQ] (Can anyone try to put bridles on them?/No one can try to put bridles on them.) [RHQ] (OR, Can anyone pierce their very thick hides?)
14 Who can open the doors of his face— ringed with his teeth, which are a terror?
(Can anyone pry open their jaws, which have terrible teeth in them?/No one can pry open their jaws, which have terrible teeth in them!) [RHQ]
15 his back is made up of rows of shields, tight together as with a close seal.
They have rows of scales on their back which are as hard as a rock (OR, tightly fastened together).
16 One is so near to another that no air can come between them.
The scales are very close together, with the result that not even air can get between them.
17 They are joined to each other; they stick together, so that they cannot be pulled apart.
The scales are joined very closely to each other, and they cannot be separated.
18 Light flashes out from his snorting; his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning dawn.
When crocodiles sneeze, [the tiny drops of water that come out of their noses] sparkle in the sunlight. Their eyes are red like the rising sun.
19 Out of his mouth go burning torches, sparks of fire leap out.
[It is as though] sparks of fire pour out of their mouths [DOU].
20 Out of his nostrils goes smoke like a boiling pot on a fire that has been fanned to be very hot.
Smoke pours out of their nostrils/noses like steam comes out of a pot that is put over a fire made from dry reeds.
21 His breath kindles coals into flame; fires go out from his mouth.
Their breath can cause coals to blaze, and flames shoot out from their mouths.
22 In his neck is strength, and terror dances in front of him.
Their necks are very strong; wherever they go, they cause people to be very afraid.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together; they are firm on him; they cannot be moved.
The folds in their flesh are very close together and are very hard/firm.
24 His heart is as hard as a stone— indeed, as hard as a lower millstone.
[They are fearless, because] the inner parts of their bodies are as hard as a rock, as hard as the lower millstone [on which grain is ground].
25 When he raises himself up, even the gods become afraid; because of fear, they draw back.
When they rise up, they cause [even] very strong people to be terrified. As a result, people (fall back/run away) when crocodiles thrash around.
26 If a sword strikes him, it does nothing— and neither does a spear, an arrow, or any other pointed weapon.
[People] [PRS] cannot injure them with swords, and spears or darts or javelins cannot injure them, either.
27 He thinks of iron as if it were straw, and of bronze as if it were rotten wood.
They [certainly are not afraid of weapons made of] straw or rotten wood, but [they are not even afraid of weapons made of] iron or bronze!
28 An arrow cannot make him flee; to him sling stones become chaff.
[Shooting] arrows [at them] does not cause them to run away. [Hurling] stones at them from a sling is like [hurling] bits of chaff at them.
29 Clubs are regarded as straw; he laughs at the whirring flight of a spear.
They are not afraid of clubs [any more than they would be afraid of men throwing] bits of straw [at them], and they laugh when they hear the whirl/sound of javelins [being thrown at them].
30 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.
Their bellies are covered with scales that are as sharp as broken pieces of pottery. When they drag themselves through the mud, their bellies tear up the ground like a plow.
31 He makes the deep to foam up like a pot of boiling water; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
They stir up the water and cause it to foam [as they churn/swim through it].
32 He makes a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had gray hair.
As they go through the water, the (wakes/trails in the water behind them) glisten. People [who see it] would think that the foam in those wakes had become white hair.
33 On earth there is no equal to him, who has been made to live without fear.
There are no creatures on earth that are as fearless as crocodiles.
34 He sees everything that is proud; he is king over all the sons of pride.”
They are the proudest of all the creatures; [it is as though] they [rule like] kings over all the other wild animals.”
