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41 [a]“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
    or press down its tongue with a cord?(A)
Can you put a rope in its nose
    or pierce its jaw with a hook?(B)
Will it make many supplications to you?
    Will it speak soft words to you?
Will it make a covenant with you
    to be taken as your servant forever?
Will you play with it as with a bird
    or put it on a leash for your young women?
Will traders bargain over it?
    Will they divide it up among the merchants?
Can you fill its skin with harpoons
    or its head with fishing spears?
Lay hands on it;
    think of the battle; you will not do it again!
[b]Any hope of capturing it[c] will be disappointed;
    one is overwhelmed even at the sight of it.
10 No one is so fierce as to dare to stir it up.
    Who can stand before it?[d](C)
11 Who can confront it[e] and be safe?[f]
    —under the whole heaven, who?[g](D)

12 “I will not keep silent concerning its limbs
    or its mighty strength or its splendid frame.
13 Who can strip off its outer garment?
    Who can penetrate its double coat of mail?[h]
14 Who can open the doors of its face?
    There is terror all around its teeth.
15 Its back[i] is made of shields in rows,
    shut up closely as with a seal.
16 One is so near 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 Its sneezes flash forth light,
    and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.(E)
19 From its mouth go flaming torches;
    sparks of fire leap out.
20 Out of its nostrils comes smoke,
    as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 Its breath kindles coals,
    and a flame comes out of its mouth.
22 In its neck abides strength,
    and terror dances before it.
23 The folds of its flesh cling together;
    it is firmly cast and immovable.
24 Its heart is as hard as stone,
    as hard as the lower millstone.
25 When it raises itself up the gods are afraid;
    at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26 Though the sword reaches it, it does not avail,
    nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 It counts iron as straw
    and bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make it flee;
    slingstones, for it, are turned to chaff.
29 Clubs are counted as chaff;
    it laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30 Its underparts are like sharp potsherds;
    it spreads itself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 It makes the deep boil like a pot;
    it makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 It leaves a shining wake behind it;
    one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33 On earth it has no equal,
    a creature without fear.(F)
34 It surveys everything that is lofty;
    it is king over all that are proud.”

Footnotes

  1. 41.1 40.25 in Heb
  2. 41.9 41.1 in Heb
  3. 41.9 Heb of it
  4. 41.10 Heb me
  5. 41.11 Heb me
  6. 41.11 Gk: Heb that I shall repay
  7. 41.11 Heb to me
  8. 41.13 Gk: Heb bridle
  9. 41.15 Cn Compare Gk Vg: Heb pride

41 1 By the greatness of this monster Leviathan, God showeth his greatness and his power, which nothing can resist.

None is so fierce that dare stir him up. Who is he then that can [a]stand before me?

Who hath prevented me that I should [b]make an end? All under heaven is mine.

I will not keep silence concerning [c]his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.

Who can discover the face [d]of his garment? or who shall come to him with a double [e]bridle?

Who shall [f]open the doors of his face? his teeth are fearful round about.

The majesty of his scales is like strong shields, and are sure sealed.

One is set to another, that no wind can come between them.

One is joined to another: they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.

His sneezings [g]make the light to shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

10 Out of his mouth go lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.

11 Out of his nostrils cometh out smoke, as out of a boiling pot or caldron.

12 His breath maketh the coals burn: for a flame goeth out of his mouth.

13 In his neck remaineth strength, and [h]labor is rejected before his face.

14 The members of his body are joined: they are strong in themselves, and cannot be moved.

15 His heart is as strong as a stone, and as hard as the nether millstone.

16 The mighty are afraid of his majesty, and for fear they faint in themselves.

17 When the sword doth touch him, he will not rise up, nor for the spear, dart nor habergeon.

18 He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.

19 The archer cannot make him flee: the stones of the sling are turneth into stubble unto him.

20 The darts are counted as straw: and he laugheth at the shaking of the spear.

21 Sharp stones [i]are under him, and he spreadeth sharp things upon the mire.

22 He maketh the depth to [j]boil like a pot, and maketh the Sea like a pot of ointment.

23 He maketh a path to [k]shine after him, one would think the depth as an hoar head.

24 In the earth there is none like him: he is made without fear.

25 He beholdeth [l]all high things: he is a King over all the children of pride.

Footnotes

  1. Job 41:1 If none dare stand against a whale, which is but a creature, who is able to compare with God the Creator?
  2. Job 41:2 Who hath taught me to accomplish my work?
  3. Job 41:3 The parts and members of the whale?
  4. Job 41:4 That is, who dare pull off his skin?
  5. Job 41:4 Who dare put a bridle in his mouth?
  6. Job 41:5 Who dare look in his mouth?
  7. Job 41:9 That is, casteth out flames of fire.
  8. Job 41:13 Nothing is painful or hard unto him.
  9. Job 41:21 His skin is so hard that he lieth with a great ease on the stones as in the mire.
  10. Job 41:22 Either he maketh the sea to seem as it boiled by his wallowing, or else he spouteth water in such abundance as it would seem that the sea boiled.
  11. Job 41:23 That is, a white froth and shining stream before him.
  12. Job 41:25 He despiseth all other beasts and monsters, and is the proudest of all others.