Job 41
1 “[Think also about] (crocodiles/great sea dragons). Can you catch them with a fishhook or fasten their jaws with a rope?
Can you pull out Leviathan with a hook? Can you tie its mouth shut?
2 Can you put ropes through their noses [to control them] or thrust hooks through their jaws?
Can you thread a rope through its nose? Can you pass a hook through its jaw?
3 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]?
Will it beg you to let it go? Or will it talk softly to you?
4 Will they make an agreement with you to work for you, to be your slaves as long as they live?
Will it make a contract with you? Will it agree to be your slave forever?
5 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]?
Will you play with it like a pet bird? Will you put it on a leash for your girls?
6 Will merchants try to buy them [in the market]? Will they cut them up into pieces and sell the meat?
Will your trading partners decide on a price for him, and divide him up among the merchants?
7 Can you pierce their skins by throwing fishing spears at them? Can you pierce their heads with a harpoon?
Can you pierce his skin with many harpoons, its head with fishing spears?
8 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!
If you were to grab hold of it, imagine the battle you would have! You wouldn't do that again!
9 It is useless to try to subdue them. Anyone who tries to subdue one of them will lose his courage.
Any hope to capture it is foolish. Anyone who tries is thrown to the ground.
10 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]
Since no one has the courage to provoke Leviathan, who would dare to stand up against me?
11 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!
Who has confronted me with any claim that I should repay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 I will tell you about [how strong] crocodiles' legs [are] and how strong their well-formed bodies are.
Let me tell you about Leviathan: its powerful legs and graceful proportions.
13 (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?)
Who can remove its hide? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor?
14 (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]
Who can open its jaws? Its teeth are terrifying!
15 They have rows of scales on their back which are as hard as a rock (OR, tightly fastened together).
Its pride is its rows of scales, closed tightly together.
16 The scales are very close together, with the result that not even air can get between them.
Its scales are so close together that no air can pass between them.
17 The scales are joined very closely to each other, and they cannot be separated.
Each scale attaches to the next; they lock together and nothing can penetrate them.
18 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.
When it sneezes light shines out. Its eyes are like the rising sun.
19 [It is as though] sparks of fire pour out of their mouths [DOU].
Flames pour from its mouth, sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours out of their nostrils/noses like steam comes out of a pot that is put over a fire made from dry reeds.
Smoke comes from its nostrils, like steam from a kettle on a fire made of reeds.
21 Their breath can cause coals to blaze, and flames shoot out from their mouths.
Its breath sets fire to charcoal as flames shoot from its mouth.
22 Their necks are very strong; wherever they go, they cause people to be very afraid.
Its neck is powerful, and all who face him shake with terror.
23 The folds in their flesh are very close together and are very hard/firm.
Its body is dense and solid, as if it is made from cast metal.
24 [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].
Its heart is rock-hard, like a millstone.
25 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.
When it rises, even the powerful are terrified; they retreat as it thrashes about.
26 [People] [PRS] cannot injure them with swords, and spears or darts or javelins cannot injure them, either.
Swords just bounce off it, as do spears, darts, and javelins.
27 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!
It brushes aside iron like straw, and bronze like rotten wood.
28 [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.
Arrows cannot make it run away; stones from slingshots are like pieces of stubble.
29 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].
Clubs are also treated like stubble; it laughs at the sound made by flying spears.
30 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.
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.
31 They stir up the water and cause it to foam [as they churn/swim through it].
It churns up the sea like water in a boiling pot, like a steaming bowl when ointment is mixed.
32 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.
It leaves a glistening wake behind it as if the sea had white hair.
33 There are no creatures on earth that are as fearless as crocodiles.
There is nothing on earth like it: a creature that has no fear.
34 They are the proudest of all the creatures; [it is as though] they [rule like] kings over all the other wild animals.”
It looks down on all other creatures. It is the proudest of all.”
