Job 41
41
The Lord Continues
Can You Catch a Sea Monster?
1 #
Ps 74.14; 104.26; Is 27.1. Can you catch a sea monster#41.1 sea monster: The Hebrew text has “Leviathan,” which may refer to a sea monster or possibly to a crocodile in this verse (see the note at 3.8).
by using a fishhook?
Can you tie its mouth shut
with a rope?
2Can it be led around
by a ring in its nose
or a hook in its jaw?
3Will it beg for mercy?
4Will it surrender
as a slave for life?
5Can it be tied by the leg
like a pet bird
for little girls?
6Is it ever chopped up
and its pieces bargained for
in the fish-market?
7Can it be killed
with harpoons or spears?
8Wrestle it just once—
that will be the end.
9Merely a glimpse of this monster
makes all courage melt.
10And if it is too fierce
for anyone to attack,
who would dare oppose me?
11I am in command of the world
and in debt to no one.
12What powerful legs,
what a stout body
this monster possesses!
13Who could strip off its armor
or bring it under control
with a harness?
14Who would try to open its jaws,
full of fearsome teeth?
* 15Its back#41.15 back: Two ancient translations; Hebrew “pride.” is covered
with shield after shield,
16firmly bound and closer together
17than breath to breath.
When This Monster Sneezes
18When this monster sneezes,
lightning flashes, and its eyes
glow like the dawn.
19Sparks and fiery flames
explode from its mouth.
20And smoke spews from its nose
like steam
from a boiling pot,
21while its blazing breath
scorches everything in sight.
22Its neck is so tremendous
that everyone trembles,
23the weakest parts of its body
are harder than iron,
24and its heart is stone.
25When this noisy monster appears,
even the most powerful#41.25 most powerful: Or “gods.”
turn and run in fear.
26No sword or spear can harm it,
27and weapons of bronze or iron
are as useless as straw
or rotten wood.
28Rocks thrown from a sling
cause it no more harm
than husks of grain.
This monster fears no arrows,
29it simply smiles at spears,
and striking it with a stick
is like slapping it with straw.
30As it crawls through the mud,
its sharp and spiny hide
tears the ground apart.
31And when it swims down deep,
the sea starts churning
like boiling oil,
32and it leaves behind a trail
of shining white foam.
33No other creature on earth
is so fearless.
34It is king of all proud creatures,
and it looks upon the others
as nothing.
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Job 41: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Job 41
41
Leviathan
1 # 41.1 40:25 in Heb Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook,
restrain his tongue with a rope?
2Can you put a cord through his nose,
pierce his jaw with a barb?
3Will he beg you at length
or speak gentle words to you?
4Will he make a pact with you
so that you will take him as a permanent slave?
5Can you play with him like a bird,
put a leash on him for your girls?
6Will merchants sell him;
will they divide him among traders?
7Can you fill his hide with darts,
his head with a fishing spear?
8Should you lay your hand on him,
you would never remember the battle.
9Such hopes#41.9 Or his hopes would be delusional;
surely the sight of him makes one stumble.
10Nobody is fierce enough to rouse him;
who then can stand before me?
11Who opposes me that I must repay?
Everything under heaven is mine.
12I’m not awed by his limbs,
his strength, and impressive form.
13Who can remove his outer garment;
who can come with a bridle for him?
14Who can open the doors of his mouth,
surrounded by frightening teeth?
15His matching scales are his pride,
closely locked and sealed.
16One touches another;
even air can’t come between them.
17Each clings to its pair;
joined, they can’t be separated.
18His sneezes emit flashes of light;
his eyes are like dawn’s rays.
19Shafts of fire shoot from his mouth;
like fiery sparks they fly out.
20Smoke pours from his nostrils
like a boiling pot over reeds.
21His breath lights coals;
a flame shoots from his mouth.
22Power resides in his neck;
violence dances before him.
23The folds of his flesh stick together;
on him they are tough and unyielding.
24His heart is solid like a rock,
hard like a lower millstone.
25The divine beings dread his rising;
they withdraw before his thrashing.
26The sword that touches him won’t prevail;
neither will the dart, spear, nor javelin.
27He treats iron as straw,
bronze as rotten wood.
28Arrows can’t make him flee;
slingstones he turns to straw.
29He treats a club like straw;
he laughs at the lance’s rattle.
30His abdomen is like jagged pottery shards;
its sharp edges leave a trail in the mud.
31He causes the depths to churn like a boiling pot,
stirs up the sea like a pot of scented oils,
32leaves a bright wake behind him;
the frothy deep seems white-haired.
33None on earth can compare to him;
he is made to be without fear.
34He looks on all the proud;
he is king over all proud beasts.
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