Job 41
Good News Translation
41 (A)Can you catch Leviathan[a] with a fishhook
or tie his tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a rope through his snout
or put a hook through his jaws?
3 Will he beg you to let him go?
Will he plead with you for mercy?
4 Will he make an agreement with you
and promise to serve you forever?
5 Will you tie him like a pet bird,
like something to amuse your servant women?
6 Will fishermen bargain over him?
Will merchants cut him up to sell?
7 Can you fill his hide with fishing spears
or pierce his head with a harpoon?
8 Touch him once and you'll never try it again;
you'll never forget the fight!
9 Anyone who sees Leviathan
loses courage and falls to the ground.
10 When he is aroused, he is fierce;
no one would dare to stand before him.
11 Who can attack him and still be safe?
No one in all the world can do it.[b]
12 Let me tell you about Leviathan's legs
and describe how great and strong he is.
13 No one can tear off his outer coat
or pierce the armor[c] he wears.
14 Who can make him open his jaws,
ringed with those terrifying teeth?
15 His back[d] is made of rows of shields,
fastened together and hard as stone.
16 Each one is joined so tight to the next,
not even a breath can come between.
17 They all are fastened so firmly together
that nothing can ever pull them apart.
18 Light flashes when he sneezes,
and his eyes glow like the rising sun.
19 Flames blaze from his mouth,
and streams of sparks fly out.
20 Smoke comes pouring out of his nose,
like smoke from weeds burning under a pot.
21 His breath starts fires burning;
flames leap out of his mouth.
22 His neck is so powerful
that all who meet him are terrified.
23 There is not a weak spot in his skin;
it is as hard and unyielding as iron.
24 His stony heart is without fear,
as unyielding and hard as a millstone.
25 When he rises up, even the strongest[e] are frightened;
they are helpless with fear.
26 There is no sword that can wound him;
no spear or arrow or lance that can harm him.
27 For him iron is as flimsy as straw,
and bronze as soft as rotten wood.
28 There is no arrow that can make him run;
rocks thrown at him are like bits of straw.
29 To him a club is a piece of straw,
and he laughs when men throw spears.
30 The scales on his belly are like jagged pieces of pottery;
they tear up the muddy ground like a threshing sledge.[f]
31 He churns up the sea like boiling water
and makes it bubble like a pot of oil.
32 He leaves a shining path behind him
and turns the sea to white foam.
33 There is nothing on earth to compare with him;
he is a creature that has no fear.
34 He looks down on even the proudest animals;
he is king of all wild beasts.
Job 41
International Standard Version
On Leviathan
41 [a]“Can you draw Leviathan[b] out of the water[c] with a hook,
or tie down[d] his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you attach a bridle[e] to his snout,
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he make many supplications to you,
or will he beg you for mercy?[f]
4 Will he try to make a deal with you,
so that you may take him in servitude forever?
5 “Will you play with him like a pet bird?
Will you put a leash on him for your little girls?
6 Will your business be able to buy him,
Will you divide him among your merchant friends?
7 Will you fill his flesh with harpoons,
or his head with lances?
8 Lay your hand on him,
and you’ll remember the struggle.
You’ll never do that again!
9 “Look! Anyone’s hope to capture him[g] will prove itself false;
anyone would be terrified[h] just by looking at him.
10 No one is fierce enough to dare to arouse him.
“Who, then, can stand in my presence and face me?
11 Who can take me to court and be reconciled to me?
All of heaven is mine.
12 “I won’t be silent concerning his limbs,
his mighty strength, and orderly frame.
13 Who can strip off his outer armor?[i]
Who can approach him with a bridle?
14 Who dares to open his mouth,[j]
since it is ringed with his terrible teeth!
15 His protective scales are his pride,
they lie sealed tightly together.
16 Each one is so close to the other
that not even air comes in between them.
17 Each is attached to the other,[k]
grasping each other so they cannot be separated.
18 “His snorting releases flashes of light;
his eyes are like the rays[l] of the dawn.
19 Flames blaze from his mouth;
streams of sparking fire fly out.
20 Smoke billows from his nostrils;
like a boiling pot or burning reeds.
21 His breath can ignite coal;
and flames proceed from his mouth.
22 “His neck is so powerful
that all who meet him are terrified.
23 There is no flaw in his body’s armor;
it is firmly fixed on him and unbreachable.
24 His heart is as strong as stone,
it is as hard as a lower millstone.
25 When he rears up, the mighty are terrified;
they are bewildered as he thrashes about.
26 “Thrusting at him with a sword won’t be effective,
nor will spears, darts, or javelins.
27 He regards iron like straw,
and hardened bronze like a dead tree.
28 Arrows won’t make him flee;
stones from a sling are only pebbles to him.
29 Clubs are like twigs;[m]
he laughs at the whoosh of the javelin.
30 “Beneath him he is armored as with sharp potsherds;
he tears through muddy ground
like a threshing sledge through grain.[n]
31 He causes the deep to boil like water in[o] a pot,
and churns the sea like one stirs ointment.
32 The sea is luminescent behind him;
his wake turns the sea white, like those with gray hair.
33 “There’s nothing like him on earth;
he was created without the ability to fear.
34 He looks down on everything that is high;
he rules over every kind[p] of pride.”
Footnotes
- Job 41:1 This v. is 40:25 in MT, v2 is 40:26 in MT, and so through v8.
- Job 41:1 I.e. an ancient, gigantic sea creature, living in Job’s time but now apparently extinct
- Job 41:1 The Heb. lacks of the water
- Job 41:1 Lit. or sink
- Job 41:2 Lit. rope
- Job 41:3 Lit. you with gentle words
- Job 41:9 The Heb. lacks to capture him
- Job 41:9 Or subdued
- Job 41:13 Lit. clothing
- Job 41:14 Lit. door of his face
- Job 41:17 Lit. with his brother
- Job 41:18 Lit. eyelids
- Job 41:29 Lit. stubble
- Job 41:30 The Heb. lacks through grain
- Job 41:31 The Heb. lacks water in
- Job 41:34 Lit. son
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
