Job 41
Expanded Bible
41 “Can you catch Leviathan [C a large sea creature or monster; 3:8] on a fishhook
or tie its tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose
or ·a hook in its jaw [L pierce its jaw/cheek with a hook]?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy
and speak to you with ·gentle [soft; kind; tender] words?
4 Will it ·make [L cut] an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with you
and let you take it as your slave ·for life [L forever]?
5 Can you ·make a pet of Leviathan [L play with it] as you would a bird
or put it on a leash for your girls?
6 Will ·traders [the fishing guild] try to ·bargain [haggle] with you for it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you stick ·darts [harpoons] all over its skin
or fill its head with fishing spears?
8 If you put one hand on it,
you will ·never forget [L remember] the battle,
and you will never do it again!
9 ·There is no hope of defeating it [Any hope of defeating/subduing it will prove a lie];
just seeing it ·overwhelms people [L throws people down].
10 No one is ·brave [fierce] enough to ·make it angry [arouse it; stir it up],
so who would be able to stand up against ·me [or it]?
11 ·No one [L Who…?] has ever ·given me anything that I must pay back [or confronted it and come out whole/safe],
·because everything under the sky belongs to me [or who—under the entire heavens?].
12 “I will ·speak [L not keep quiet] about Leviathan’s ·arms and legs [limbs],
its great strength and ·well-formed body [L grace of form].
13 ·No one [L Who…?] can ·tear off [L expose] its outer ·hide [L garment]
or ·poke [enter] through its double armor.
14 ·No one [L Who…?] can force open ·its great jaws [L the doors of its face];
they are filled with frightening teeth.
15 It has rows of shields on its back
that are tightly sealed together.
16 Each ·shield is so close to the next one [L draws near the other, so]
that no air can go between them.
17 ·They are joined strongly to one another [L Each clings to its neighbor];
they hold on to each other and cannot be ·separated [broken off].
18 When it ·snorts [sneezes], flashes of light are thrown out,
and its eyes look like the light at dawn.
19 Flames blaze from its mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours out of its nose,
as if coming from a large pot over a hot fire.
21 Its breath sets coals on fire,
and flames come out of its mouth.
22 There is great strength in its neck.
·People are afraid and run away [or Violence leaps before it].
23 The folds of its skin are tightly joined;
they are set and cannot be moved.
24 Its ·chest [L heart] is as hard as a rock,
even as hard as a ·grinding stone [lower millstone].
25 The ·powerful [mighty; or gods] fear ·its terrible looks [L when it lifts itself up]
and ·draw back in fear as it moves [or the waves miss their mark/retreat].
26 The sword that ·hits [approaches] it does not hurt it,
nor the arrows, darts, and spears.
27 It ·treats [considers] iron as if it were straw
and bronze metal as if it were rotten wood.
28 It does not run away from arrows;
stones from slings are like chaff to it.
29 Clubs feel like ·pieces of straw [chaff] to it,
and it laughs when they ·shake [rattle] a spear at it.
30 The underside of its body is like ·broken [or sharp] pieces of pottery.
It leaves a trail in the mud like a threshing board.
31 It makes the deep sea ·bubble like a boiling [L boil like a] pot;
it ·stirs up the sea like a pot of oil [L makes the sea like ointment].
32 ·When it swims [L After it], it leaves a shining path in the water
that makes the sea look as if it had white hair.
33 Nothing else on earth is equal to it;
it is a creature without fear.
34 It looks down on all those who are ·too proud [proud; lofty];
it is king over all proud creatures.”
Job 41
New American Standard Bible
God’s Power Shown in Creatures
41 “[a]Can you drag out [b](A)Leviathan with a fishhook,
And press down his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you (B)put a [c]rope in his nose,
And pierce his jaw with a [d]hook?
3 Will he make many pleas to you,
Or will he speak to you gentle words?
4 Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him as a servant forever?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
And tie him down for your young girls?
6 Will the [e]traders bargain for him?
Will they divide him among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay your hand on him.
Remember the battle; [f]you will not do it again!
9 [g]Behold, [h]your expectation is false;
Will [i]you be hurled down even at the sight of him?
10 No one is so reckless that he dares to (C)stir him;
Who then is he who opposes Me?
11 Who has (D)been first to give to Me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is (E)under the entire heaven is Mine.
12 “I will not be silent about his limbs,
Or his mighty strength, or his graceful frame.
13 Who can [j]strip off his outer covering?
Who can [k]pierce his double [l]armor?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth there is terror.
15 His [m]strong scales are his pride,
Locked as with a tight seal.
16 One is so close to another
That no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another;
They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the (F)eye of dawn.
19 From his mouth go burning torches;
Sparks of fire leap forth.
20 From his nostrils smoke goes out
As from a boiling pot and burning reeds.
21 His breath sets coals aglow,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
22 In his neck dwells strength,
And dismay leaps before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm and immovable on him.
24 His heart is as firm as a stone,
And as firm as a lower millstone.
25 When he rises up, the [n]mighty are afraid;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
26 The sword that reaches him cannot [o]prevail,
Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 He regards iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.
28 The [p]arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
29 Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
30 His underparts are like sharp pieces of pottery;
He [q]spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mud.
31 He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
32 Behind him he illuminates a pathway;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
33 (G)Nothing on [r]earth is like him,
One made without fear.
34 [s]He looks on everything that is high;
He is king over all the (H)sons of pride.”
Footnotes
- Job 41:1 Ch 40:25 in Heb
- Job 41:1 I.e., a sea monster or crocodile
- Job 41:2 Lit rope of rushes
- Job 41:2 Or thorn; or ring
- Job 41:6 Lit partners
- Job 41:8 Lit do not add
- Job 41:9 Ch 41:1 in Heb
- Job 41:9 Lit his
- Job 41:9 Lit he
- Job 41:13 Lit uncover the face of his garment
- Job 41:13 Lit come into
- Job 41:13 As in LXX; Heb bridle
- Job 41:15 Lit rows of shields
- Job 41:25 Or gods
- Job 41:26 Lit rise
- Job 41:28 Lit son of the bow
- Job 41:30 Or moves across
- Job 41:33 Lit dust
- Job 41:34 Ch 41:26 in Heb
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
