Job 41
Christian Standard Bible
41 Can you pull in Leviathan(A) with a hook(B)
or tie his tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord[a] 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[b] 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[c] hand on him.
You will remember the battle
and never repeat it!
9 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?[d](G)
14 Who can open his jaws,[e]
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[f]
that no air can pass between them.
17 They are joined to one another,
so closely connected[g] they cannot be separated.
18 His snorting[h] flashes with light,
while his eyes are like the rays[i] 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[j] and immovable.
24 His heart is as hard as a rock,
as hard as a lower millstone!
25 When Leviathan rises, the mighty[k] 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;[l]
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.[m]
Footnotes
- 41:2 Lit reed
- 41:5 Lit or bind him
- 41:8 Lit your
- 41:13 LXX; MT reads double bridle
- 41:14 Lit open the doors of his face
- 41:16 Lit One by one they approach
- 41:17 Lit another; they cling together and
- 41:18 Or sneezing
- 41:18 Lit eyelids
- 41:23 Lit together, hard on him
- 41:25 Or the divine beings
- 41:32 Lit a path
- 41:34 Lit the children of pride
Job 41
The Message
I Run This Universe
41 1-11 “Or can you pull in the sea beast, Leviathan, with a fly rod
and stuff him in your creel?
Can you lasso him with a rope,
or snag him with an anchor?
Will he beg you over and over for mercy,
or flatter you with flowery speech?
Will he apply for a job with you
to run errands and serve you the rest of your life?
Will you play with him as if he were a pet goldfish?
Will you make him the mascot of the neighborhood children?
Will you put him on display in the market
and have shoppers haggle over the price?
Could you shoot him full of arrows like a pin cushion,
or drive harpoons into his huge head?
If you so much as lay a hand on him,
you won’t live to tell the story.
What hope would you have with such a creature?
Why, one look at him would do you in!
If you can’t hold your own against his glowering visage,
how, then, do you expect to stand up to me?
Who could confront me and get by with it?
I’m in charge of all this—I run this universe!
12-17 “But I’ve more to say about Leviathan, the sea beast,
his enormous bulk, his beautiful shape.
Who would even dream of piercing that tough skin
or putting those jaws into bit and bridle?
And who would dare knock at the door of his mouth
filled with row upon row of fierce teeth?
His pride is invincible;
nothing can make a dent in that pride.
Nothing can get through that proud skin—
impervious to weapons and weather,
The thickest and toughest of hides,
impenetrable!
18-34 “He snorts and the world lights up with fire,
he blinks and the dawn breaks.
Comets pour out of his mouth,
fireworks arc and branch.
Smoke erupts from his nostrils
like steam from a boiling pot.
He blows and fires blaze;
flames of fire stream from his mouth.
All muscle he is—sheer and seamless muscle.
To meet him is to dance with death.
Sinewy and lithe,
there’s not a soft spot in his entire body—
As tough inside as out,
rock-hard, invulnerable.
Even angels run for cover when he surfaces,
cowering before his tail-thrashing turbulence.
Javelins bounce harmlessly off his hide,
harpoons ricochet wildly.
Iron bars are so much straw to him,
bronze weapons beneath notice.
Arrows don’t even make him blink;
bullets make no more impression than raindrops.
A battle ax is nothing but a splinter of kindling;
he treats a brandished harpoon as a joke.
His belly is armor-plated, inexorable—
unstoppable as a barge.
He roils deep ocean the way you’d boil water,
he whips the sea like you’d whip an egg into batter.
With a luminous trail stretching out behind him,
you might think Ocean had grown a gray beard!
There’s nothing on this earth quite like him,
not an ounce of fear in that creature!
He surveys all the high and mighty—
king of the ocean, king of the deep!”
Job 41
New Life Version
The Lord Is Speaking to Job
41 “Can you pull the crocodile out with a fish-hook? Can you tie his tongue down with a rope? 2 Can you put a rope in his nose, or put a hook through his jaw? 3 Will he beg you to be good to him? Will he speak soft words to you? 4 Will he make an agreement with you to take him and make him your servant forever? 5 Will you play with him as if he were a bird? Or will you put him on a rope for your young women? 6 Will traders talk about buying and selling him? Will they divide him among the store-keepers? 7 Can you fill his skin or his head with fish spears? 8 Lay your hand on him, and remember the battle. You will not do it again! 9 See, the hope of man is false. One is laid low even when seeing him. 10 No one is so powerful that he would wake him. Who then can stand before Me? 11 Who has given Me everything, that I should pay him back? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.
12 “I will not keep quiet about his legs, or his powerful strength, or the good way he is made. 13 Who can take off his outside clothing? Who can get through his hard skin? 14 Who can open the doors of his mouth? Around his teeth is much fear. 15 His hard covering is his pride. He is shut up as with a lock. 16 One piece of his hard skin is so close to another that no air can come between them. 17 They are joined one to another. They hold on to each other and cannot be separated. 18 His breath gives out light. And his eyes are like those of the first light of day. 19 Burning light goes out of his mouth. Fire comes out. 20 Smoke goes out of his nostrils, as from a boiling pot and burning grass. 21 His breath sets fire to coals. A fire goes out of his mouth. 22 Strength is in his neck, and fear jumps in front of him. 23 The folds of his flesh are joined together. They are set in place and cannot be moved. 24 His heart is as hard as a stone, even as hard as a grinding-stone. 25 When he raises himself up, the powerful are afraid. They are troubled because of his noise. 26 The sword that hits him cannot cut. And spears are of no use. 27 He thinks of iron as straw, and brass as soft wood. 28 The arrow cannot make him run away. Stones thrown at him are like dry grass to him. 29 He thinks of heavy sticks as dry grass. He laughs at the noise of the spear. 30 The parts under him are like sharp pieces of a pot. He spreads out like a grain crusher on the mud. 31 He makes the sea boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a jar of oil. 32 He makes his way shine behind him. One would think that the sea has white hair. 33 Nothing on earth is like him, one made without fear. 34 He looks on everything that is high. He is king over all that are proud.”
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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