Job 41
Living Bible
41 “Can you catch a crocodile[a] with a hook and line? Or put a noose around his tongue? 2 Can you tie him with a rope through the nose, or pierce his jaw with a spike? 3 Will he beg you to desist or try to flatter you from your intentions? 4 Will he agree to let you make him your slave for life? 5 Can you make a pet of him like a bird, or give him to your little girls to play with? 6 Do fishing partners sell him to the fishmongers? 7 Will his hide be hurt by darts, or his head with a harpoon?
8 “If you lay your hands upon him, you will long remember the battle that ensues and you will never try it again! 9 No, it’s useless to try to capture him. It is frightening even to think about it! 10 No one dares to stir him up, let alone try to conquer him. And if no one can stand before him, who can stand before me? 11 I owe no one anything. Everything under the heaven is mine.
12 “I should mention, too, the tremendous strength in his limbs and throughout his enormous frame. 13 Who can penetrate his hide, or who dares come within reach of his jaws? 14 For his teeth are terrible. 15-17 His overlapping scales are his pride, making a tight seal so no air can get between them, and nothing can penetrate.
18 “When he sneezes, the sunlight sparkles like lightning across the vapor droplets. His eyes glow like sparks. 19 Fire leaps from his mouth. 20 Smoke flows from his nostrils, like steam from a boiling pot that is fired by dry rushes. 21 Yes, his breath would kindle coals—flames leap from his mouth.
22 “The tremendous strength in his neck strikes terror wherever he goes. 23 His flesh is hard and firm, not soft and fat. 24 His heart is hard as rock, just like a millstone. 25 When he stands up, the strongest are afraid. Terror grips them. 26 No sword can stop him, nor spear nor dart nor pointed shaft. 27-28 Iron is nothing but straw to him, and brass is rotten wood. Arrows cannot make him flee. Sling stones are as ineffective as straw. 29 Clubs do no good, and he laughs at the javelins hurled at him. 30 His belly is covered with scales as sharp as shards; they tear up the ground as he drags through the mud.
31-32 “He makes the water boil with his commotion. He churns the depths. He leaves a shining wake of froth behind him. One would think the sea was made of frost! 33 There is nothing else so fearless anywhere on earth. 34 Of all the beasts, he is the proudest—monarch of all that he sees.”
Footnotes
- Job 41:1 a crocodile, literally, “leviathan.”
Job 41
Good News Translation
41 (A)Can you catch Leviathan[a] with a fishhook
or tie his tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a rope through his snout
or put a hook through his jaws?
3 Will he beg you to let him go?
Will he plead with you for mercy?
4 Will he make an agreement with you
and promise to serve you forever?
5 Will you tie him like a pet bird,
like something to amuse your servant women?
6 Will fishermen bargain over him?
Will merchants cut him up to sell?
7 Can you fill his hide with fishing spears
or pierce his head with a harpoon?
8 Touch him once and you'll never try it again;
you'll never forget the fight!
9 Anyone who sees Leviathan
loses courage and falls to the ground.
10 When he is aroused, he is fierce;
no one would dare to stand before him.
11 Who can attack him and still be safe?
No one in all the world can do it.[b]
12 Let me tell you about Leviathan's legs
and describe how great and strong he is.
13 No one can tear off his outer coat
or pierce the armor[c] he wears.
14 Who can make him open his jaws,
ringed with those terrifying teeth?
15 His back[d] is made of rows of shields,
fastened together and hard as stone.
16 Each one is joined so tight to the next,
not even a breath can come between.
17 They all are fastened so firmly together
that nothing can ever pull them apart.
18 Light flashes when he sneezes,
and his eyes glow like the rising sun.
19 Flames blaze from his mouth,
and streams of sparks fly out.
20 Smoke comes pouring out of his nose,
like smoke from weeds burning under a pot.
21 His breath starts fires burning;
flames leap out of his mouth.
22 His neck is so powerful
that all who meet him are terrified.
23 There is not a weak spot in his skin;
it is as hard and unyielding as iron.
24 His stony heart is without fear,
as unyielding and hard as a millstone.
25 When he rises up, even the strongest[e] are frightened;
they are helpless with fear.
26 There is no sword that can wound him;
no spear or arrow or lance that can harm him.
27 For him iron is as flimsy as straw,
and bronze as soft as rotten wood.
28 There is no arrow that can make him run;
rocks thrown at him are like bits of straw.
29 To him a club is a piece of straw,
and he laughs when men throw spears.
30 The scales on his belly are like jagged pieces of pottery;
they tear up the muddy ground like a threshing sledge.[f]
31 He churns up the sea like boiling water
and makes it bubble like a pot of oil.
32 He leaves a shining path behind him
and turns the sea to white foam.
33 There is nothing on earth to compare with him;
he is a creature that has no fear.
34 He looks down on even the proudest animals;
he is king of all wild beasts.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
