Job 41
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Lord Continues: Can You Conquer Leviathan, Job?
41 [a]“Can you pull Leviathan out ⌞of the water⌟ with a fishhook
or tie its tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a ring through its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it plead with you for mercy
or speak tenderly to you?
4 Will it make an agreement with you
so that you can take it as your permanent slave?
5 Can you play with it like a bird
or keep it on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders bargain over it
and divide it among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
8 Lay your hand on it.
Think of the struggle!
Don’t do it again!
9 Certainly, any hope ⌞of defeating it⌟ is a false hope.
Doesn’t the sight of it overwhelm you?
10 No one is brave enough to provoke Leviathan.
Then who can stand in front of me? [b]
11 Who can confront me that I should repay him?
Everything under heaven belongs to me!
12 “I will not be silent about Leviathan’s limbs,
its strength, or its graceful form.
13 Who can skin its hide?
Who can approach it with a harness?
14 Who can open its closed mouth?
Its teeth are surrounded by terror.
15 Its back has rows of scales that are tightly sealed.
16 One is so close to the other
that there is no space between them.
17 Each is joined to the other.
They are locked together and inseparable.
18 When Leviathan sneezes, it gives out a flash of light.
Its eyes are like the first rays of the dawn.
19 Flames shoot from its mouth.
Sparks of fire fly from it.
20 Smoke comes from its nostrils
like a boiling pot heated over brushwood.
21 Its breath sets coals on fire,
and a flame pours from its mouth.
22 Strength resides in its neck,
and power dances in front of it.
23 The folds of its flesh stick to each other.
They are solid and cannot be moved.
24 Its chest is solid like a rock,
solid like a millstone.
25 “The mighty are afraid when Leviathan rises.
Broken down, they draw back.
26 A sword may strike it but not pierce it.
Neither will a spear, lance, or dart.
27 It considers iron to be like straw
and bronze to be like rotten wood.
28 An arrow won’t make it run away.
Stones from a sling turn to dust against it.
29 It considers clubs to be like stubble,
and it laughs at a rattling javelin.
30 Its underside is like sharp pieces of broken pottery.
It stretches out like a threshing [c] sledge on the mud.
31 It makes the deep sea boil like a pot.
It stirs up the ocean like a boiling kettle.
32 It leaves a shining path behind it
so that the sea appears to have silvery hair.
33 Nothing on land can compare to it.
It was made fearless.
34 It looks down on all high things.
It is king of everyone who is arrogant.”
Footnotes
- 41:1 Job 41:1–34 in English Bibles is Job 40:25–41:26 in the Hebrew Bible.
- 41:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts “it.”
- 41:30 Threshing is the process of beating stalks to separate them from the grain.
Job 41
New American Standard Bible
God’s Power Shown in Creatures
41 “[a]Can you drag out [b](A)Leviathan with a fishhook,
And press down his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you (B)put a [c]rope in his nose,
And pierce his jaw with a [d]hook?
3 Will he make many pleas to you,
Or will he speak to you gentle words?
4 Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him as a servant forever?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
And tie him down for your young girls?
6 Will the [e]traders bargain for him?
Will they divide him among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay your hand on him.
Remember the battle; [f]you will not do it again!
9 [g]Behold, [h]your expectation is false;
Will [i]you be hurled down even at the sight of him?
10 No one is so reckless that he dares to (C)stir him;
Who then is he who opposes Me?
11 Who has (D)been first to give to Me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is (E)under the entire heaven is Mine.
12 “I will not be silent about his limbs,
Or his mighty strength, or his graceful frame.
13 Who can [j]strip off his outer covering?
Who can [k]pierce his double [l]armor?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth there is terror.
15 His [m]strong scales are his pride,
Locked as with a tight seal.
16 One is so close to another
That no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another;
They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the (F)eye of dawn.
19 From his mouth go burning torches;
Sparks of fire leap forth.
20 From his nostrils smoke goes out
As from a boiling pot and burning reeds.
21 His breath sets coals aglow,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
22 In his neck dwells strength,
And dismay leaps before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm and immovable on him.
24 His heart is as firm as a stone,
And as firm as a lower millstone.
25 When he rises up, the [n]mighty are afraid;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
26 The sword that reaches him cannot [o]prevail,
Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 He regards iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.
28 The [p]arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
29 Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
30 His underparts are like sharp pieces of pottery;
He [q]spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mud.
31 He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
32 Behind him he illuminates a pathway;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
33 (G)Nothing on [r]earth is like him,
One made without fear.
34 [s]He looks on everything that is high;
He is king over all the (H)sons of pride.”
Footnotes
- Job 41:1 Ch 40:25 in Heb
- Job 41:1 I.e., a sea monster or crocodile
- Job 41:2 Lit rope of rushes
- Job 41:2 Or thorn; or ring
- Job 41:6 Lit partners
- Job 41:8 Lit do not add
- Job 41:9 Ch 41:1 in Heb
- Job 41:9 Lit his
- Job 41:9 Lit he
- Job 41:13 Lit uncover the face of his garment
- Job 41:13 Lit come into
- Job 41:13 As in LXX; Heb bridle
- Job 41:15 Lit rows of shields
- Job 41:25 Or gods
- Job 41:26 Lit rise
- Job 41:28 Lit son of the bow
- Job 41:30 Or moves across
- Job 41:33 Lit dust
- Job 41:34 Ch 41:26 in Heb
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