41 [a] “Can you draw out (A)Leviathan[b] with a fishhook
    or press down his tongue with a cord?
Can you put (B)a rope in his nose
    or pierce his jaw with (C)a hook?
Will he make many pleas to you?
    Will he speak to you soft words?
Will he make a covenant with you
    to take him for (D)your servant forever?
Will you play with him as with a bird,
    or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
Will traders bargain over him?
    Will they divide him up among the merchants?
Can you fill his skin with harpoons
    or his head with fishing spears?
Lay your hands on him;
    remember the battle—you will not do it again!
[c] Behold, the hope of a man is false;
    he is laid low even at the sight of him.
10 No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.
    Who then is he who can stand before me?
11 (E)Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
    (F)Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
    or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
13 Who can strip off his outer garment?
    Who would come near him with a bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
    Around his teeth is terror.
15 His back is made of[d] rows of shields,
    shut up closely as with a seal.
16 One is so near to another
    that no air can come between them.
17 They are (G)joined one to another;
    they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezings flash forth light,
    and his eyes are like (H)the eyelids of the dawn.
19 Out of his mouth go flaming torches;
    sparks of fire leap forth.
20 Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,
    as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 His breath (I)kindles coals,
    and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
22 In his neck abides strength,
    and terror dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh (J)stick together,
    firmly cast on him and immovable.
24 His heart is hard as a stone,
    hard as the lower millstone.
25 When he raises himself up, the mighty[e] are afraid;
    at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26 Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,
    nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 He counts iron as straw,
    and bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee;
    for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.
29 Clubs are counted as stubble;
    he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30 His underparts are like sharp (K)potsherds;
    he spreads himself like (L)a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 He makes the deep boil like a pot;
    he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 Behind him he leaves a shining wake;
    one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33 (M)On earth there is not his like,
    a creature without fear.
34 He sees everything that is high;
    he is king over all the (N)sons of pride.”

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Footnotes

  1. Job 41:1 Ch 40:25 in Hebrew
  2. Job 41:1 A large sea animal, exact identity unknown
  3. Job 41:9 Ch 41:1 in Hebrew
  4. Job 41:15 Or His pride is in his
  5. Job 41:25 Or gods

On Leviathan

41 [a]“Can you draw Leviathan[b] out of the water[c] with a hook,
    or tie down[d] his tongue with a rope?
Can you attach a bridle[e] to his snout,
    or pierce his jaw with a hook?
Will he make many supplications to you,
    or will he beg you for mercy?[f]
Will he try to make a deal with you,
    so that you may take him in servitude forever?

“Will you play with him like a pet bird?
    Will you put a leash on him for your little girls?
Will your business be able to buy him,
    Will you divide him among your merchant friends?
Will you fill his flesh with harpoons,
    or his head with lances?
Lay your hand on him,
    and you’ll remember the struggle.
        You’ll never do that again!

“Look! Anyone’s hope to capture him[g] will prove itself false;
    anyone would be terrified[h] just by looking at him.
10 No one is fierce enough to dare to arouse him.
“Who, then, can stand in my presence and face me?
11 Who can take me to court and be reconciled to me?
        All of heaven is mine.

12 “I won’t be silent concerning his limbs,
    his mighty strength, and orderly frame.
13 Who can strip off his outer armor?[i]
    Who can approach him with a bridle?
14 Who dares to open his mouth,[j]
    since it is ringed with his terrible teeth!

15 His protective scales are his pride,
    they lie sealed tightly together.
16 Each one is so close to the other
    that not even air comes in between them.
17 Each is attached to the other,[k]
    grasping each other so they cannot be separated.

18 “His snorting releases flashes of light;
    his eyes are like the rays[l] of the dawn.
19 Flames blaze from his mouth;
    streams of sparking fire fly out.
20 Smoke billows from his nostrils;
    like a boiling pot or burning reeds.
21 His breath can ignite coal;
    and flames proceed from his mouth.

22 “His neck is so powerful
    that all who meet him are terrified.
23 There is no flaw in his body’s armor;
    it is firmly fixed on him and unbreachable.
24 His heart is as strong as stone,
    it is as hard as a lower millstone.
25 When he rears up, the mighty are terrified;
    they are bewildered as he thrashes about.

26 “Thrusting at him with a sword won’t be effective,
    nor will spears, darts, or javelins.
27 He regards iron like straw,
    and hardened bronze like a dead tree.
28 Arrows won’t make him flee;
    stones from a sling are only pebbles to him.
29 Clubs are like twigs;[m]
    he laughs at the whoosh of the javelin.

30 “Beneath him he is armored as with sharp potsherds;
    he tears through muddy ground
        like a threshing sledge through grain.[n]
31 He causes the deep to boil like water in[o] a pot,
    and churns the sea like one stirs ointment.
32 The sea is luminescent behind him;
    his wake turns the sea white, like those with gray hair.

33 “There’s nothing like him on earth;
    he was created without the ability to fear.
34 He looks down on everything that is high;
    he rules over every kind[p] of pride.”

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Footnotes

  1. Job 41:1 This v. is 40:25 in MT, v2 is 40:26 in MT, and so through v8.
  2. Job 41:1 I.e. an ancient, gigantic sea creature, living in Job’s time but now apparently extinct
  3. Job 41:1 The Heb. lacks of the water
  4. Job 41:1 Lit. or sink
  5. Job 41:2 Lit. rope
  6. Job 41:3 Lit. you with gentle words
  7. Job 41:9 The Heb. lacks to capture him
  8. Job 41:9 Or subdued
  9. Job 41:13 Lit. clothing
  10. Job 41:14 Lit. door of his face
  11. Job 41:17 Lit. with his brother
  12. Job 41:18 Lit. eyelids
  13. Job 41:29 Lit. stubble
  14. Job 41:30 The Heb. lacks through grain
  15. Job 41:31 The Heb. lacks water in
  16. Job 41:34 Lit. son