Job
Chapter 41
1 Can you catch Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a hook in his nose or pierce his jaw with a spike?
3 Will he beg you often? Will he speak gently to you?
4 Will he agree with you? Will you make him your servant forever?
5 Will you play with it like a bird? Or will you tie it up for your girls?
6 Will friends feast on him? Will traders divide him up?
7 Can you cover his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
8 Touch him and remember the fight, do it no more.
9 Look, his hope is pointless: won’t someone be terrified just by seeing him?
10 No one is brave enough to disturb him; who then can face me?
11 Who has given to me first, so I need to pay him back? Everything under the whole sky is mine.
12 I won’t hide his body, his strength, or his good shape.
13 Who can reach the edge of his clothing? Or who can approach him with a double bit bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his face? His teeth are terrifying all around.
15 His scales are what he is proud of, tight and sealed closely.
16 They are so close together that no air can fit between them.
17 They are connected to each other, they cling tightly, so they cannot be separated.
18 When he sneezes, light shines, and his eyes are like the dawn’s first light.
19 From his mouth come shining lights, and sparks of fire jump out.
20 Smoke comes out of his nose like from a boiling pot or kettle.
21 His breath lights up coals, and flames come out of his mouth.
22 Strength stays in his neck, and sadness turns to joy in his presence.
23 His skin is thick and tight; it is solid and does not move.
24 His heart is as strong as a rock, yes, as hard as a lower grinding stone.
25 When he stands up, the strong are scared: because of the terror, they try to make themselves clean.
26 The warrior’s sword won’t succeed: neither the spear, the arrow, nor the armor.
27 He thinks iron is like straw and brass is like rotten wood.
28 Arrows cannot scare him; to him, slingshot stones turn to chaff.
29 Arrows seem like straw to him; he laughs at the shaking of a spear.
30 He lies on sharp rocks; he scatters spiky things on the mud.
31 He makes the depths churn like a boiling pot; he makes the sea stir like a pot of ointment.
32 He leaves a shining trail behind him; it seems like the depths have gray hair.
33 On earth, there is no one like him; he is made without fear.
34 He sees everything that is high up; he is a king over all the proud people.