Job 41

1 Can you draw out the leviathan with a hook, and can you bind his tongue with a cord?

“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord?

2 Can you place a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with an arm band?

Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook?

3 Will he offer many prayers to you, or speak to you quietly?

Will he make many petitions to you, or will he speak soft words to you?

4 Will he form a covenant with you, and will you accept him as a servant forever?

Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?

5 Will you play with him as with a bird, or tether him for your handmaids?

Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your girls?

6 Will your friends cut him into pieces, will dealers distribute him?

Will traders barter for him? Will they part him among the merchants?

7 Will you fill up bags with his hide, and let his head be used as a home for fishes?

Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish spears?

8 Place your hand upon him; remember the battle and speak no more.

Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more.

9 Behold, his hope will fail him, and in the sight of all, he will be thrown down.

Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Won’t one be cast down even at the sight of him?

10 I will not rouse him, as the cruel would do, for who is able to withstand my countenance?

None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?

11 Who has given to me beforehand, so that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine.

Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.

12 I will not spare him, nor his powerful words and counterfeit attempts at supplication.

“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.

13 Who can reveal the beauty of his garment? And who can enter the middle of his mouth?

Who can strip off his outer garment? Who will come within his jaws?

14 Who can open the doors of his face? I gave fear to the circle of his teeth.

Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror.

15 His body is like shields fused together, like dense scales pressed over one another.

Strong scales are his pride, shut up together with a close seal.

16 One is joined to another, and not even air can pass between them.

One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.

17 They adhere to one another, and they hold themselves in place and will not be separated.

They are joined to one another. They stick together, so that they can’t be pulled apart.

18 His sneezing has the brilliance of fire, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

His sneezing flashes out light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

19 Lamps proceed from his mouth, like torches of fire burning brightly.

Out of his mouth go burning torches. Sparks of fire leap out.

20 Smoke passes out of his nostrils, like a pot that is heated and boiling.

Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.

21 His breath causes coal to burn, and a flame comes forth from his mouth.

His breath kindles coals. A flame goes out of his mouth.

22 Strength dwells in his neck, and destitution goes before his presence.

There is strength in his neck. Terror dances before him.

23 The parts of his body work in harmony together. He will send lightning bolts against him, and they will not be carried to another place.

The flakes of his flesh are joined together. They are firm on him. They can’t be moved.

24 His heart will be as hard as a stone and as dense as a blacksmith’s anvil.

His heart is as firm as a stone, yes, firm as the lower millstone.

25 When he will be raised up, the angels will be afraid, and, because they are terrified, they will purify themselves.

When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. They retreat before his thrashing.

26 When a sword catches up with him, it will not be able to settle in, nor a spear, nor a breastplate.

If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.

27 For he will consider iron as if it were chaff, and brass as if it were rotten wood.

He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.

28 The archer will not cause him to flee; the stones of the sling have been turned into stubble for him.

The arrow can’t make him flee. Sling stones are like chaff to him.

29 He will treat the hammer as if it were stubble, and he will ridicule those who brandish the spear.

Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin.

30 The beams of the sun will be under him, and he will dispense gold to them as if it were clay.

His undersides are like sharp potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.

31 He will make the depths of the sea boil like a pot, and he will set it to bubble just as ointments do.

He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

32 A path will shine after him; he will esteem the abyss as if it were weakening with age.

He makes a path shine after him. One would think the deep had white hair.

33 There is no power on the earth that is being compared to him, who has been made so that he fears no one.

On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear.

34 He sees every prominent thing; he is king over all the sons of arrogance.

He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.”