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41:1  Can you draw out the leviathan (the crocodile) with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?
41:2  Can you put a rope into his nose? Or pierce his jaw through with a hook or a spike?
41:3  Will he make many supplications to you [begging to be spared]? Will he speak soft words to you [to coax you to treat him kindly]?
41:4  Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever?
41:5  Will you play with [the crocodile] as with a bird? Or will you put him on a leash for your maidens?
41:6  Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants?
41:7  Can you fill his skin with harpoons? Or his head with fishing spears?
41:8  Lay your hand upon him! Remember your battle with him; you will not do [such an ill-advised thing] again!
41:9  Behold, the hope of [his assailant] is disappointed; one is cast down even at the sight of him!
41:10  No one is so fierce [and foolhardy] that he dares to stir up [the crocodile]; who then is he who can stand before Me [the beast’s Creator, or dares to contend with Me]?
41:11  Who has first given to Me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heavens is Mine. [Therefore, who can have a claim against God, God Who made the unmastered crocodile?]
41:12  I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.
41:13  Who can strip off [the crocodile’s] outer garment? [Who can penetrate his double coat of mail?] Who shall come within his jaws?
41:14  Who can open the doors of his [lipless] mouth? His [extended jaws and bare] teeth are terrible round about.
41:15  His scales are [the crocodile’s] pride, [for his back is made of rows of shields] shut up together [as with] a tight seal;
41:16  One is so near to another that no air can come between them.
41:17  They are joined one to another; they stick together so that they cannot be separated.
41:18  His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the [reddish] eyelids of the dawn.
41:19  Out of his mouth go burning torches, [and] sparks of fire leap out.
41:20  Out of his nostrils goes forth smoke, as out of a seething pot over a fire of rushes.
41:21  His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes forth from his mouth.
41:22  In [the crocodile’s] neck abides strength, and terror dances before him.
41:23  The folds of his flesh cleave together; they are firm upon him, and they cannot shake [when he moves].
41:24  His heart is as firm as a stone, indeed, as solid as a nether millstone.
41:25  When [the crocodile] raises himself up, the mighty are afraid; because of terror and the crashing they are beside themselves.
41:26  Even if one strikes at him with the sword, it cannot get any hold, nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
41:27  He counts iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.
41:28  The arrow cannot make [the crocodile] flee; slingstones are treated by him as stubble.
41:29  Clubs [also] are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rushing and the rattling of the javelin.
41:30  His underparts are like sharp pieces of broken pottery; he spreads [grooves like] a threshing sledge upon the mire.
41:31  He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a [foaming] pot of ointment.
41:32  [His swift darting] makes a shining track behind him; one would think the deep to be hoary [with foam].
41:33  Upon earth there is not [the crocodile’s] equal, a creature made without fear and he behaves fearlessly.
41:34  He looks all mighty [beasts of prey] in the face [without terror]; he is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now, Job, who are you who dares not arouse the unmastered crocodile, yet who dares resist Me, the beast’s Creator, to My face? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]