41 ^[a] Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook,
    restrain his tongue with a rope?
² Can you put a cord through his nose,
    pierce his jaw with a barb?
³ Will he beg you at length
    or speak gentle words to you?
⁴ Will he make a pact with you
    so that you will take him as a permanent slave?
⁵ Can you play with him like a bird,
    put a leash on him for your girls?
⁶ Will merchants sell him;
    will they divide him among traders?
⁷ Can you fill his hide with darts,
    his head with a fishing spear?
⁸ Should you lay your hand on him,
    you would never remember the battle.
⁹ Such hopes^[b] would be delusional;
    surely the sight of him makes one stumble.
¹⁰ Nobody is fierce enough to rouse him;
    who then can stand before me?
¹¹ Who opposes me that I must repay?
    Everything under heaven is mine.
¹² I’m not awed by his limbs,
    his strength, and impressive form.
¹³ Who can remove his outer garment;
    who can come with a bridle for him?
¹⁴ Who can open the doors of his mouth,
    surrounded by frightening teeth?
¹⁵ His matching scales are his pride,
    closely locked and sealed.
¹⁶         One touches another;
        even air can’t come between them.
¹⁷ Each clings to its pair;
    joined, they can’t be separated.
¹⁸ His sneezes emit flashes of light;
    his eyes are like dawn’s rays.
¹⁹ Shafts of fire shoot from his mouth;
    like fiery sparks they fly out.
²⁰ Smoke pours from his nostrils
    like a boiling pot over reeds.
²¹ His breath lights coals;
    a flame shoots from his mouth.
²² Power resides in his neck;
    violence dances before him.
²³ The folds of his flesh stick together;
    on him they are tough and unyielding.
²⁴ His heart is solid like a rock,
    hard like a lower millstone.
²⁵ The divine beings dread his rising;
    they withdraw before his thrashing.
²⁶ The sword that touches him won’t prevail;
    neither will the dart, spear, nor javelin.
²⁷ He treats iron as straw,
    bronze as rotten wood.
²⁸ Arrows can’t make him flee;
    slingstones he turns to straw.
²⁹ He treats a club like straw;
    he laughs at the lance’s rattle.
³⁰ His abdomen is like jagged pottery shards;
    its sharp edges leave a trail in the mud.
³¹ He causes the depths to churn like a boiling pot,
    stirs up the sea like a pot of scented oils,
³²         leaves a bright wake behind him;
        the frothy deep seems white-haired.
³³ None on earth can compare to him;
    he is made to be without fear.
³⁴ He looks on all the proud;
    he is king over all proud beasts.