Job 41
1 An extrahere poteris leviathan hamo, et fune ligabis linguam eius?
“Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
2 Numquid pones circulum in naribus eius, aut armilla perforabis maxillam eius?
Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Numquid multiplicabit ad te preces, aut loquetur tibi mollia?
Will he beg you for mercy or speak to you softly?
4 Numquid feriet tecum pactum, et accipies eum servum sempiternum?
Will he make a covenant with you to take him as a slave for life?
5 Numquid illudes ei quasi avi, aut ligabis eum ancillis tuis?
Can you pet him like a bird or put him on a leash for your maidens?
6 Concident eum amici, divident illum negotiatores?
Will traders barter for him or divide him among the merchants?
7 Numquid implebis sagenas pelle eius, et gurgustium piscium capite illius?
Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
8 Pone super eum manum tuam: memento belli, nec ultra addas loqui.
If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the battle and never repeat it!
9 Ecce, spes eius frustrabitur eum, et videntibus cunctis praecipitabitur.
Surely hope of overcoming him is false. Is not the sight of him overwhelming?
10 Non quasi crudelis suscitabo eum: quis enim resistere potest vultui meo?
No one is so fierce as to rouse Leviathan. Then who is able to stand against Me?
11 Quis ante dedit mihi, ut reddam ei? omnia quae sub caelo sunt, mea sunt.
Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.
12 Non parcam ei, et verbis potentibus, et ad deprecandum compositis.
I cannot keep silent about his limbs, his power and graceful form.
13 Quis revelabit faciem indumenti eius? et in medium oris eius quis intrabit?
Who can strip off his outer coat? Who can approach him with a bridle?
14 Portas vultus eius quis aperiet? per gyrum dentium eius formido.
Who can open his jaws, ringed by his fearsome teeth?
15 Corpus illius quasi scuta fusilia, compactum squamis se prementibus.
His rows of scales are his pride, tightly sealed together.
16 Una uni coniungitur, et ne spiraculum quidem incedit per eas:
One scale is so near to another that no air can pass between them.
17 Una alteri adhaerebit, et tenentes se nequaquam separabuntur.
They are joined to one another; they clasp and cannot be separated.
18 Sternutatio eius splendor ignis, et oculi eius, ut palpebrae diluculi.
His snorting flashes with light, and his eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 De ore eius lampades procedunt, sicut taedae ignis accensae.
Firebrands stream from his mouth; fiery sparks shoot forth!
20 De naribus eius procedit fumus, sicut ollae succensae atque ferventis.
Smoke billows from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21 Halitus eius prunas ardere facit, et flamma de ore eius egreditur.
His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour from his mouth.
22 In collo eius morabitur fortitudo, et faciem eius praecedit egestas.
Strength resides in his neck, and dismay leaps before him.
23 Membra carnium eius cohaerentia sibi: mittet contra eum flumina, et ad locum alium non ferentur.
The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
24 Cor eius indurabitur tamquam lapis, et stringetur quasi malleatoris incus.
His chest is as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone!
25 Cum sublatus fuerit, timebunt angeli, et territi purgabuntur.
When Leviathan rises up, the mighty are terrified; they withdraw before his thrashing.
26 Cum apprehenderit eum gladius, subsistere non poterit neque hasta, neque thorax:
The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or dart or arrow.
27 Reputabit enim quasi paleas ferrum, et quasi lignum putridum, aes.
He regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.
28 Non fugabit eum vir sagittarius, in stipulam versi sunt ei lapides fundae.
No arrow can make him flee; slingstones become like chaff to him.
29 Quasi stipulam aestimabit malleum, et deridebit vibrantem hastam.
A club is regarded as straw, and he laughs at the sound of the lance.
30 Sub ipso erunt radii solis, et sternet sibi aurum quasi lutum.
His undersides are jagged potsherds, spreading out the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 Fervescere faciet quasi ollam profundum mare, et ponet quasi cum unguenta bulliunt.
He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; he makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
32 Post eum lucebit semita, aestimabit abyssum quasi senescentem.
He leaves a glistening wake behind him; one would think the deep had white hair!
33 Non est super terram potestas, quae comparetur ei, qui factus est ut nullum timeret.
Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature devoid of fear!
34 Omne sublime videt, ipse est rex super universos filios superbiae.
He looks down on all the haughty; he is king over all the proud.”
