Job 41
1 An extrahere poteris leviathan hamo, et fune ligabis linguam eius?
Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or tie up his jaws with a cord?
2 Numquid pones circulum in naribus eius, aut armilla perforabis maxillam eius?
Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
3 Numquid multiplicabit ad te preces, aut loquetur tibi mollia?
Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak soft words to you?
4 Numquid feriet tecum pactum, et accipies eum servum sempiternum?
Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?
5 Numquid illudes ei quasi avi, aut ligabis eum ancillis tuis?
Will you play with him as you would with a bird? Will you tie him up for your servant girls?
6 Concident eum amici, divident illum negotiatores?
Will the groups of fishermen bargain for him? Will they divide him up to trade 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.
Put your hand on him just once, and you will remember the battle and do it no more.
9 Ecce, spes eius frustrabitur eum, et videntibus cunctis praecipitabitur.
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 Non quasi crudelis suscitabo eum: quis enim resistere potest vultui meo?
None is so fierce that he dare stir Leviathan up; who, then, is he who can stand before me?
11 Quis ante dedit mihi, ut reddam ei? omnia quae sub caelo sunt, mea sunt.
Who has first given anything to me in order that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole sky is mine.
12 Non parcam ei, et verbis potentibus, et ad deprecandum compositis.
I will not keep silent concerning Leviathan's legs, nor about the matter of his strength, nor about his graceful form.
13 Quis revelabit faciem indumenti eius? et in medium oris eius quis intrabit?
Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double armor?
14 Portas vultus eius quis aperiet? per gyrum dentium eius formido.
Who can open the doors of his face— ringed with his teeth, which are a terror?
15 Corpus illius quasi scuta fusilia, compactum squamis se prementibus.
his back is made up of rows of shields, tight together as with a close seal.
16 Una uni coniungitur, et ne spiraculum quidem incedit per eas:
One is so near to another that no air can come between them.
17 Una alteri adhaerebit, et tenentes se nequaquam separabuntur.
They are joined to each other; they stick together, so that they cannot be pulled apart.
18 Sternutatio eius splendor ignis, et oculi eius, ut palpebrae diluculi.
Light flashes out from his snorting; his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning dawn.
19 De ore eius lampades procedunt, sicut taedae ignis accensae.
Out of his mouth go burning torches, sparks of fire leap out.
20 De naribus eius procedit fumus, sicut ollae succensae atque ferventis.
Out of his nostrils goes smoke like a boiling pot on a fire that has been fanned to be very hot.
21 Halitus eius prunas ardere facit, et flamma de ore eius egreditur.
His breath kindles coals into flame; fires go out from his mouth.
22 In collo eius morabitur fortitudo, et faciem eius praecedit egestas.
In his neck is strength, and terror dances in front of him.
23 Membra carnium eius cohaerentia sibi: mittet contra eum flumina, et ad locum alium non ferentur.
The folds of his flesh are joined together; they are firm on him; they cannot be moved.
24 Cor eius indurabitur tamquam lapis, et stringetur quasi malleatoris incus.
His heart is as hard as a stone— indeed, as hard as a lower millstone.
25 Cum sublatus fuerit, timebunt angeli, et territi purgabuntur.
When he raises himself up, even the gods become afraid; because of fear, they draw back.
26 Cum apprehenderit eum gladius, subsistere non poterit neque hasta, neque thorax:
If a sword strikes him, it does nothing— and neither does a spear, an arrow, or any other pointed weapon.
27 Reputabit enim quasi paleas ferrum, et quasi lignum putridum, aes.
He thinks of iron as if it were straw, and of bronze as if it were rotten wood.
28 Non fugabit eum vir sagittarius, in stipulam versi sunt ei lapides fundae.
An arrow cannot make him flee; to him sling stones become chaff.
29 Quasi stipulam aestimabit malleum, et deridebit vibrantem hastam.
Clubs are regarded as straw; he laughs at the whirring flight of a spear.
30 Sub ipso erunt radii solis, et sternet sibi aurum quasi lutum.
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 Fervescere faciet quasi ollam profundum mare, et ponet quasi cum unguenta bulliunt.
He makes the deep to foam up like a pot of boiling water; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 Post eum lucebit semita, aestimabit abyssum quasi senescentem.
He makes a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had gray hair.
33 Non est super terram potestas, quae comparetur ei, qui factus est ut nullum timeret.
On earth there is no equal to him, who has been made to live without fear.
34 Omne sublime videt, ipse est rex super universos filios superbiae.
He sees everything that is proud; he is king over all the sons of pride.”
