Home Master Index
←Prev   Job 41 as rendered by/in  Next→ 



41:1  “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?
41:2  “Can you put a rope [made] of rushes into his nose Or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
41:3  “Will he make many supplications to you [begging to be spared]? Or will he speak soft words to you [to coax you to treat him kindly]?
41:4  “Will he make a covenant or an arrangement with you? Will you take him for your servant forever?
41:5  “Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him [and 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 on him; Remember the battle [with him]; you will not do such [an ill-advised thing] again!
41:9  “Behold, his [assailant’s] hope and expectation [of defeating Leviathan] is false; Will not one be overwhelmed even at the sight of him?
41:10  “No one is so fierce [and foolhardy] that he dares to stir up Leviathan; Who then is he who can stand before Me [or dares to contend with Me, the beast’s creator]?
41:11  “Who has first given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine. [Who can have a claim against Me who made the unmastered beast?]
41:12  “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, Nor his mighty strength, nor his orderly frame.
41:13  “Who can penetrate or strip off his outer armor? Who can come to his jaws with a double bridle?
41:14  “Who can open the doors (jaws) of his face? Around his [open jaws and] teeth there is terror.
41:15  “His strong scales are his pride, Bound 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 and cannot be separated.
41:18  “His sneezes 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 smoke goes forth As from a boiling pot and [as from] burning rushes.
41:21  “His breath kindles coals, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
41:22  “In Leviathan’s neck resides strength, And dismay and terror dance before him.
41:23  “The folds of his flesh are joined together, Firm on him and immobile [when he moves].
41:24  “His heart is as hard as a stone, Indeed, as solid as a lower millstone.
41:25  “When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid; Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
41:26  “The sword that reaches him cannot avail, Nor [does] the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
41:27  “He considers iron as straw, Bronze as rotten wood.
41:28  “The arrow cannot make him flee; Slingstones are treated as stubble by him.
41:29  “Clubs [also] are regarded 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 moves across and spreads out [grooves] like a threshing sledge on the mire (muddy river banks).
41:31  “He makes the deep water boil like a pot; He makes the sea like a [foaming] pot of ointment.
41:32  “Behind him he makes a shining wake; One would think the deep to be gray-haired [with foam].
41:33  “Upon earth there is nothing like him—no equal exists, A creature made without fear.
41:34  “He looks on everything that is high [without terror]; He is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now, Job, who are you who does not dare to disturb the beast, yet who dares resist Me, the beast’s creator? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]”