Job 41
Holman Christian Standard Bible
41 [a]Can you pull in Leviathan(A) with a hook(B)
or tie his tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord[b] through his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?(C)
3 Will he beg you for mercy
or speak softly to you?
4 Will he make a covenant with you
so that you can take him as a slave forever?(D)
5 Can you play with him like a bird
or put him on a leash[c] for your girls?
6 Will traders bargain for him
or divide him among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay a[d] hand on him.
You will remember the battle
and never repeat it!
9 [e]Any hope of capturing him proves false.
Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him?
10 No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan;(E)
who then can stand against Me?
11 Who confronted Me, that I should repay him?
Everything under heaven belongs to Me.(F)
12 I cannot be silent about his limbs,
his power, and his graceful proportions.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering?
Who can penetrate his double layer of armor?[f](G)
14 Who can open his jaws,[g]
surrounded by those terrifying teeth?
15 His pride is in his rows of scales,
closely sealed together.
16 One scale is so close to another[h]
that no air can pass between them.
17 They are joined to one another,
so closely connected[i] they cannot be separated.
18 His snorting[j] flashes with light,
while his eyes are like the rays[k] of dawn.
19 Flaming torches shoot from his mouth;
fiery sparks fly out!
20 Smoke billows from his nostrils(H)
as from a boiling pot or burning reeds.
21 His breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames pour out of his mouth.
22 Strength resides in his neck,
and dismay dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together,
solid as metal[l] and immovable.
24 His heart is as hard as a rock,
as hard as a lower millstone!
25 When Leviathan rises, the mighty[m] are terrified;
they withdraw because of his thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches him will have no effect,
nor will a spear, dart, or arrow.
27 He regards iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 No arrow can make him flee;
slingstones become like stubble to him.
29 A club is regarded as stubble,
and he laughs(I) at the sound of a javelin.
30 His undersides are jagged potsherds,
spreading the mud like a threshing sledge.(J)
31 He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron;
he makes the sea like an ointment jar.
32 He leaves a shining wake behind him;[n]
one would think the deep had gray hair!
33 He has no equal on earth—
a creature devoid of fear!
34 He surveys everything that is haughty;
he is king over all the proud beasts.[o]
Notas al pie
- Job 41:1 Jb 40:25 in Hb
- Job 41:2 Lit reed
- Job 41:5 Lit or bind him
- Job 41:8 Lit your
- Job 41:9 Jb 41:1 in Hb
- Job 41:13 LXX; MT reads double bridle
- Job 41:14 Lit open the doors of his face
- Job 41:16 Lit One by one they approach
- Job 41:17 Lit another; they cling together and
- Job 41:18 Or sneezing
- Job 41:18 Lit eyelids
- Job 41:23 Lit together, hard on him
- Job 41:25 Or the divine beings
- Job 41:32 Lit a path
- Job 41:34 Lit the children of pride
Job 41
International Standard Version
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?
2 Can you attach a bridle[e] to his snout,
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he make many supplications to you,
or will he beg you for mercy?[f]
4 Will he try to make a deal with you,
so that you may take him in servitude forever?
5 “Will you play with him like a pet bird?
Will you put a leash on him for your little girls?
6 Will your business be able to buy him,
Will you divide him among your merchant friends?
7 Will you fill his flesh with harpoons,
or his head with lances?
8 Lay your hand on him,
and you’ll remember the struggle.
You’ll never do that again!
9 “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.”
Notas al pie
- Job 41:1 This v. is 40:25 in MT, v2 is 40:26 in MT, and so through v8.
- Job 41:1 I.e. an ancient, gigantic sea creature, living in Job’s time but now apparently extinct
- Job 41:1 The Heb. lacks of the water
- Job 41:1 Lit. or sink
- Job 41:2 Lit. rope
- Job 41:3 Lit. you with gentle words
- Job 41:9 The Heb. lacks to capture him
- Job 41:9 Or subdued
- Job 41:13 Lit. clothing
- Job 41:14 Lit. door of his face
- Job 41:17 Lit. with his brother
- Job 41:18 Lit. eyelids
- Job 41:29 Lit. stubble
- Job 41:30 The Heb. lacks through grain
- Job 41:31 The Heb. lacks water in
- Job 41:34 Lit. son
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