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 draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord?
2 Can you put ropes through their noses [to control them] or thrust hooks through their jaws?
Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
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 he make many petitions to you, or will he speak soft words to you?
4 Will they make an agreement with you to work for you, to be your slaves as long as they live?
Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant 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 him as with a bird? Or will you bind him 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 traders barter for him? Will they part him amongst the merchants?
7 Can you pierce their skins by throwing fishing spears at them? Can you pierce their heads with a harpoon?
Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish 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!
Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more.
9 It is useless to try to subdue them. Anyone who tries to subdue one of them will lose his courage.
Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Won’t one be cast down even at the sight of him?
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]
None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before 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 first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.
12 I will tell you about [how strong] crocodiles' legs [are] and how strong their well-formed bodies are.
“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.
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 strip off his outer garment? Who will come within his jaws?
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 the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror.
15 They have rows of scales on their back which are as hard as a rock (OR, tightly fastened together).
Strong scales are his pride, shut up together with a close seal.
16 The scales are very close together, with the result that not even air can get between them.
One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.
17 The scales are joined very closely to each other, and they cannot be separated.
They are joined to one another. They stick together, so that they can’t be pulled apart.
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.
His sneezing flashes out light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 [It is as though] sparks of fire pour out of their mouths [DOU].
Out of his mouth go burning torches. Sparks of fire leap 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.
Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.
21 Their breath can cause coals to blaze, and flames shoot out from their mouths.
His breath kindles coals. A flame goes out of his mouth.
22 Their necks are very strong; wherever they go, they cause people to be very afraid.
There is strength in his neck. Terror dances before him.
23 The folds in their flesh are very close together and are very hard/firm.
The flakes of his flesh are joined together. They are firm on him. They can’t be moved.
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].
His heart is as firm as a stone, yes, firm as the lower 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 he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. They retreat before his thrashing.
26 [People] [PRS] cannot injure them with swords, and spears or darts or javelins cannot injure them, either.
If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.
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!
He counts iron as straw, and bronze as 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.
The arrow can’t make him flee. Sling stones are like chaff to him.
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 counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin.
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.
His undersides are like sharp potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 They stir up the water and cause it to foam [as they churn/swim through it].
He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
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.
He makes a path shine after him. One would think the deep had white hair.
33 There are no creatures on earth that are as fearless as crocodiles.
On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear.
34 They are the proudest of all the creatures; [it is as though] they [rule like] kings over all the other wild animals.”
He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.”
