Job 41
EasyEnglish Bible
God continues to ask Job questions
41 ‘It is the same with the sea monsters called Leviathan.[a]
Can you catch them with a hook?
Can you use a rope to keep their mouths shut?
2 Can you tie a rope through their noses?
Can you put a hook into their mouths.
3 No! They will not ask you nicely to be kind
and let them go free.
4 They will not make any agreement with you.
You cannot make them your slaves
to work for you as long as they live.
5 Leviathan is not something to enjoy at home, like a bird.
You cannot tie it with a rope,
so that your girls can play with it.
6 Traders do not buy it at the market.
They do not cut it up to sell it.
7 Job, can you throw spears into Leviathan's body to kill it?
Can you shoot arrows into its head?
8 If you try to take hold of it,
you will never forget the fight!
You will never try to do that again!
9 If anyone hopes to catch it,
he is deceiving himself.
As soon as he sees it,
he no longer feels so brave!
10 No one is brave enough to wake it.
So is anyone brave enough to argue against me?
11 Nobody has ever won against me
to make me pay them anything.
Everything in the whole world belongs to me.
12 I must tell you how strong Leviathan's legs are.
Their bodies are very strong
and they have a wonderful shape.
13 Nobody is able to remove their thick skin.
It is like armour that nobody can cut through.
14 Nobody is strong enough to open its mouth.
Its teeth make everyone afraid.
15 Its back is like rows of shields.
They are as hard as stone with no spaces between them.
16 Each shield is very near the next one.
Not even air can pass between them.
17 They are strongly joined together,
and nothing can pull them apart.
18 When Leviathan breathes out loudly,
bright light shines from its nose.
Its eyes shine like the red sun at dawn.
19 Fire comes out from its mouth.
Bright flames shoot out!
20 Smoke pours out from its nose,
like reeds that burn under a pot.
21 Its breath is hot enough to light a fire!
Flames pour out of its mouth.
22 Its neck is very strong.
Wherever it goes,
people shake with fear.
23 There are no weak places in its skin.
Its skin is as hard as iron.
24 It is cruel and it has no fear.
Its heart is as hard as stone.
25 Even the bravest people are afraid
when Leviathan appears.
They run away when it starts to move.
26 If you hit it with a sword,
you will not hurt it.
Spears, arrows and knives will be useless.
27 It can easily break iron or bronze weapons.
It breaks them as easily as grass or soft wood.
28 If you shoot arrows at it,
it will not run away.
If you use a sling to throw stones at it,
the stones will hurt it no more than bits of chaff.
29 If you hit it with a heavy stick,
that hurts it no more than a piece of straw.
If you throw a spear at it,
it laughs!
30 Its stomach has sharp pieces,
like bits of a pot that someone has broken.
When it moves along,
it ploughs the soil under it.
31 When it swims in the deep water of the sea,
the water seems to boil.
It makes big waves,
like oil that is boiling in a pot.
32 As it swims, the water behind it shines.
It makes waves that look like white hair on the sea.
33 There is no other animal like it in the whole world.
It is not afraid of anything.
34 It does not respect any other great animal.
It rules as king over all the proud animals.’
Footnotes
- 41:1 This may be speaking about the animal that we call a crocodile.
Job 41
Common English Bible
Leviathan
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.
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