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.
约伯记 41
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
神造鱷魚，顯出他偉大
41 “你能用魚鈎釣上鱷魚嗎？
能用繩子把牠的舌頭壓下嗎？
2 能把草繩穿進牠的鼻子嗎？
能用刺鈎穿透牠的腮骨嗎？
3 牠會向你再三懇求，
對你說溫柔的話嗎？
4 牠肯與你立約，
好使你永遠奴役牠嗎？
5 你怎能玩弄牠，像玩弄雀鳥一樣呢？
怎能把牠拴住，給你的幼女取樂呢？
6 結夥的漁夫怎能拿牠當貨物買賣呢？
怎能把牠分給商人呢？
7 你能用倒鈎扎滿牠的皮嗎？
能用魚叉扎滿牠的頭嗎？
8 你把手按在牠身上，
想到與牠的戰鬥，你就不再是這樣作了。（本章第1~8節在《馬索拉文本》為40:25~32）
9 人希望捉住牠是徒然的，
人一見牠，就心驚膽戰。（本節在《馬索拉文本》為41:1）
10 人惹牠的時候，牠不是很兇猛嗎？
這樣，有誰人在我面前能站立得住呢？
11 誰先給了我，以致我要償還呢？
天下萬物，都是我的。
12 論到鱷魚的四肢和牠的力氣，
以及美好的體態，我不能緘默不言。
13 誰能揭開牠的外皮呢？
誰能進入牠上下兩顎之間呢？
14 誰能打開牠的口呢？
牠的牙齒令人戰慄。
15 牠的背有一行一行的鱗甲，
緊緊合閉著，像印得很緊的印章一樣。
16 這鱗甲一一相連接，
連氣也透不入其間，
17 鱗甲一一互相連合，
互相緊貼，不能分離。
18 牠打的噴嚏閃出光來，
牠的眼睛如同清晨的陽光；
19 有火從牠的口中發出，
火星四射；
20 有煙從牠的鼻孔裡冒出來，
像從沸騰的鍋中和燒著的蘆葦裡冒出來一樣；
21 牠的氣可以點著煤炭，
有火燄從牠的口裡噴出來，
22 牠的頸項上存著能力，
驚恐在牠面前跳躍。
23 牠下垂的肌肉緊貼在一起，
牢牢地貼在身上，不能搖動。
24 牠的心堅實如石頭，
如下磨石那樣堅實。
25 牠一起來，勇士都驚慌，
因驚惶過度舉止失措。
26 追上牠的刀劍都沒用，
矛槍、標槍、短槍也是這樣。
27 牠把鐵當作乾草，
把銅當作朽木。
28 弓箭不能使牠逃跑，
甩石機弦在牠看來不過是碎稭。
29 棍棒被牠當作碎?，
短槍颼颼之聲牠也譏笑。
30 牠的腹下像銳利的瓦片，
牠在泥上碾過如同有利釘的耙犁田一樣。
31 牠使深淵沸騰，
牠攪動海洋如在鼎中調製膏油。
32 牠使自己行過的路發出白光，
令人把深淵當作白髮老人。
33 在世上沒有一樣像牠的，
牠是無所懼怕的動物；
34 所有高大的動物，牠都藐視，
牠在一切狂傲的野獸之上作王。”
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