Job 41
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 41
1 “Any hope you have in this regard would be futile;
just the mere sight of it would convince you to retreat.
2 How ferocious it is when aroused!
No one could ever stand up to confront it.[a]
3 Who has attacked it and remained unscathed?
There has never been anyone under the heavens.
4 “Nor will I keep silence about its limbs,
or its strength, or its magnificent frame.
5 Who can strip off its outer garment
or pierce the reinforced armor of its breastplate?
6 Who has ever managed to force open the doors of its mouth
and beheld the teeth that leave one in terror?
7 “Rows of shields adorn its back
and are tightly sealed together.
8 One presses so close to the next
that no air can pass between them.
9 Each is so joined, one to another,
that they hold fast and cannot be separated.
10 “When it sneezes, sprays of light[b] flash forth,
and its eyes are like the rays of the dawn.
11 Fiery torches emerge from its mouth
and sparks come flying out.
12 Smoke issues forth from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot on the fire.
13 Its breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames pour forth from its mouth.
14 “Strength resides in its neck,
causing terror to all who behold it.
15 The folds of its flesh are joined together,
firmly set in place and immovable.
16 Its heart is as hard as stone,
as unyielding as the lower millstone.
17 When it rears up, strong men become terrified,
and the waves of the sea retreat.
18 “Even though the sword reaches it, there is no penetration,
nor is there with the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
19 It regards iron as straw
and bronze as rotting wood.
20 No arrow can force it to flee;
slingstones it regards as nothing but chaff.
21 To it a club is like a splinter,
and it laughs at the javelins that are hurled at it.
22 “Its lower parts are protected with jagged potsherds,
and it moves across the mire like a threshing sledge.
23 It causes the depths to boil like a cauldron;
it churns the sea like a pot of ointment.
24 Behind it there is left a shining trail,
and in its wake the deep appears to be white-haired.
25 It has no equal upon the earth;
it is a creature that is utterly fearless.
26 It looks down upon all, even the highest;
it is king over all wild beasts.”
Job 41
Holman Christian Standard Bible
41 [a]Can you pull in Leviathan(A) with a hook(B)
or tie his tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord[b] through his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?(C)
3 Will he beg you for mercy
or speak softly to you?
4 Will he make a covenant with you
so that you can take him as a slave forever?(D)
5 Can you play with him like a bird
or put him on a leash[c] for your girls?
6 Will traders bargain for him
or divide him among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay a[d] hand on him.
You will remember the battle
and never repeat it!
9 [e]Any hope of capturing him proves false.
Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him?
10 No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan;(E)
who then can stand against Me?
11 Who confronted Me, that I should repay him?
Everything under heaven belongs to Me.(F)
12 I cannot be silent about his limbs,
his power, and his graceful proportions.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering?
Who can penetrate his double layer of armor?[f](G)
14 Who can open his jaws,[g]
surrounded by those terrifying teeth?
15 His pride is in his rows of scales,
closely sealed together.
16 One scale is so close to another[h]
that no air can pass between them.
17 They are joined to one another,
so closely connected[i] they cannot be separated.
18 His snorting[j] flashes with light,
while his eyes are like the rays[k] of dawn.
19 Flaming torches shoot from his mouth;
fiery sparks fly out!
20 Smoke billows from his nostrils(H)
as from a boiling pot or burning reeds.
21 His breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames pour out of his mouth.
22 Strength resides in his neck,
and dismay dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together,
solid as metal[l] and immovable.
24 His heart is as hard as a rock,
as hard as a lower millstone!
25 When Leviathan rises, the mighty[m] are terrified;
they withdraw because of his thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches him will have no effect,
nor will a spear, dart, or arrow.
27 He regards iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 No arrow can make him flee;
slingstones become like stubble to him.
29 A club is regarded as stubble,
and he laughs(I) at the sound of a javelin.
30 His undersides are jagged potsherds,
spreading the mud like a threshing sledge.(J)
31 He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron;
he makes the sea like an ointment jar.
32 He leaves a shining wake behind him;[n]
one would think the deep had gray hair!
33 He has no equal on earth—
a creature devoid of fear!
34 He surveys everything that is haughty;
he is king over all the proud beasts.[o]
Footnotes
- Job 41:1 Jb 40:25 in Hb
- Job 41:2 Lit reed
- Job 41:5 Lit or bind him
- Job 41:8 Lit your
- Job 41:9 Jb 41:1 in Hb
- Job 41:13 LXX; MT reads double bridle
- Job 41:14 Lit open the doors of his face
- Job 41:16 Lit One by one they approach
- Job 41:17 Lit another; they cling together and
- Job 41:18 Or sneezing
- Job 41:18 Lit eyelids
- Job 41:23 Lit together, hard on him
- Job 41:25 Or the divine beings
- Job 41:32 Lit a path
- Job 41:34 Lit the children of pride
Job 41
The Voice
41 Eternal One: Now let us not stop here.
What of Leviathan?
Can you haul it in on the end of a hook
or strap down its tongue with your line?
In modern times, a leviathan is understood as something large and formidable. It may apply to an abstract entity, such as a totalitarian state, or to an actual monster, such as Captain Nemo’s giant squid. That modern idea is based on an ancient creation myth. Psalm 74 alludes to God’s conquest of Leviathan, a seven-headed monster that breathed fire, before His creation of the world. Leviathan was the master of chaos, living somewhere in the deep along with Rahab, another sea monster. The story goes that God chopped off six of Leviathan’s heads and imprisoned it in the deepest parts of the ocean, where it remains today. Leviathan creeps up occasionally in the Bible as a terrifying adversary, most notably in Revelation where it is described as a dragon or beast that comes up out of the sea and is specifically identified as Satan (Revelation 12:9; 13:1-3). So Leviathan will get another chance to fight God, but once again it will fall to the One who brought divine order to chaos.
2 Will you subdue it with a fragile reed through its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Do you imagine it will beg you endlessly for mercy
or lower its voice to a whisper when speaking to you?
4 Will it strike a deal with you
and enter into your service as a lifelong slave?
5 Will you play with it as you would a pet bird
or put it on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders haggle over its price
and others seek to divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
8 If you are able to lay a hand on it,
You will remember the struggle all of your days,
and you will never do it again.
9 Now look, any expectation you could subdue it will be shattered.
Just the sight of it is enough to overpower you.
10 No one is fierce enough to dare disturb it.
So is there anyone in all the earth who dares to stand up to Me?
11 Who could ever confront Me and force Me to repay him?
Everything and everyone under heaven is Mine![a]
12 I will not be silent regarding Leviathan’s powerful limbs,
its enormous strength, or its beautiful form.
13 Who can reveal what is under its outer armor covering
or penetrate down through its double coat of mail?
14 Who can pry open its enormous jaws?
Remember: its teeth are a terror from every angle.
15 Its back is covered with rows of shields
that overlap and shut with a tight seal—
16 One against another,
so close that no wind passes between them.
17 They are joined to one another,
inseparably locked.
18 When it sneezes, light flashes from its nostrils;
its eyes are like the rays of the morning sun.
19 Fire streams from its mouth
as fiery sparks fly outward.
20 Smoke pours from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot or a brush fire.
21 Its searing breath sets coals ablaze;
its flaming tongue darts from its mouth.
22 Leviathan’s neck bristles with raw power;
terror dances before him.
23 The creases in its flesh fuse together:
firm, fixed, immovable.
24 Its heart is rock hard,
as hard as a lower millstone, impervious to grinding.
25 When the beast rises up and moves near, the mighty ones shudder in fear;
when it crashes down, they retreat.
26 The sword that reaches it may strike but to no effect,
so, too, the spear, the dart, and the lance.
27 For it treats iron as straw
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot force its retreat,
and the stone from the sling shatters on impact.
29 A club is no more dangerous to it than a piece of straw;
it taunts and laughs at the rattling lance.
30 Its underbelly is as sharp as broken pottery shards;
it easily dredges a channel in the mud behind it.
31 It brings the deep to a rolling boil like a pot over a hot fire;
in its course it stirs the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 Behind it, the wake is bright and shining,
as if the sea has long white hair.
33 Nothing on earth is its equal,
this creature fashioned without fear.
34 It looks upon all the high and mighty—
this king over the children of pride.
Footnotes
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.