Job 41
41
The LORD Continues: Can You Conquer Leviathan, Job?
1 # 41:1
Job 41:1–34
in English Bibles is Job 40:25–41:26 in the Hebrew Bible. “Can you pull Leviathan out ⌞of the water⌟ with a fishhook
or tie its tongue down with a rope?
2Can you put a ring through its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3Will it plead with you for mercy
or speak tenderly to you?
4Will it make an agreement with you
so that you can take it as your permanent slave?
5Can you play with it like a bird
or keep it on a leash for your girls?
6Will traders bargain over it
and divide it among the merchants?
7Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
8Lay your hand on it.
Think of the struggle!
Don’t do it again!
9Certainly, any hope ⌞of defeating it⌟ is a false hope.
Doesn’t the sight of it overwhelm you?
10No one is brave enough to provoke Leviathan.
Then who can stand in front of me? #41:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts “it.”
11Who can confront me that I should repay him?
Everything under heaven belongs to me!
12“I will not be silent about Leviathan’s limbs,
its strength, or its graceful form.
13Who can skin its hide?
Who can approach it with a harness?
14Who can open its closed mouth?
Its teeth are surrounded by terror.
15Its back has rows of scales that are tightly sealed.
16One is so close to the other
that there is no space between them.
17Each is joined to the other.
They are locked together and inseparable.
18When Leviathan sneezes, it gives out a flash of light.
Its eyes are like the first rays of the dawn.
19Flames shoot from its mouth.
Sparks of fire fly from it.
20Smoke comes from its nostrils
like a boiling pot heated over brushwood.
21Its breath sets coals on fire,
and a flame pours from its mouth.
22Strength resides in its neck,
and power dances in front of it.
23The folds of its flesh stick to each other.
They are solid and cannot be moved.
24Its chest is solid like a rock,
solid like a millstone.
25“The mighty are afraid when Leviathan rises.
Broken down, they draw back.
26A sword may strike it but not pierce it.
Neither will a spear, lance, or dart.
27It considers iron to be like straw
and bronze to be like rotten wood.
28An arrow won’t make it run away.
Stones from a sling turn to dust against it.
29It considers clubs to be like stubble,
and it laughs at a rattling javelin.
30Its underside is like sharp pieces of broken pottery.
It stretches out like a threshing #41:30 Threshing is the process of beating stalks to separate them from the grain. sledge on the mud.
31It makes the deep sea boil like a pot.
It stirs up the ocean like a boiling kettle.
32It leaves a shining path behind it
so that the sea appears to have silvery hair.
33Nothing on land can compare to it.
It was made fearless.
34It looks down on all high things.
It is king of everyone who is arrogant.”
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Job 41
41
1Can you pull in Leviathan # Jb 3:8; Ps 104:26; Is 27:1 with a hook # Is 19:8; Hab 1:15
or tie his tongue down with a rope?
2Can you put a cord # Lit reed through his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook? # 2Kg 19:28; Jb 40:24; Is 37:29
3Will he beg you for mercy
or speak softly to you?
4Will he make a covenant with you
so that you can take him as a slave forever? # Ex 21:6; Dt 15:17; 1Sm 27:12
5Can you play with him like a bird
or put him on a leash # Lit or bind him for your girls?
6Will traders bargain for him
or divide him among the merchants?
7Can you fill his hide with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8Lay a # Lit your hand on him.
You will remember the battle
and never repeat it!
9# Jb 41:1 in HbAny hope of capturing him proves false.
Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him?
10No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan; # Jb 3:8; Jr 50:44
who then can stand against Me?
11Who confronted Me, that I should repay him?
Everything under heaven belongs to Me. # Ps 24:1; Rm 11:35; 1Co 10:26
12I cannot be silent about his limbs,
his power, and his graceful proportions.
13Who can strip off his outer covering?
Who can penetrate his double layer of armor? # LXX; MT reads double bridle # Jr 46:4; 51:3
14Who can open his jaws, # Lit open the doors of his face
surrounded by those terrifying teeth?
15His pride is in his rows of scales,
closely sealed together.
16One scale is so close to another # Lit One by one they approach
that no air can pass between them.
17They are joined to one another,
so closely connected # Lit another; they cling together and they cannot be separated.
18His snorting # Or sneezing flashes with light,
while his eyes are like the rays # Lit eyelids of dawn.
19Flaming torches shoot from his mouth;
fiery sparks fly out!
20Smoke billows from his nostrils # 2Sm 22:9; Jb 39:20; Ps 18:8
as from a boiling pot or burning reeds.
21His breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames pour out of his mouth.
22Strength resides in his neck,
and dismay dances before him.
23The folds of his flesh are joined together,
solid as metal # Lit together, hard on him and immovable.
24His heart is as hard as a rock,
as hard as a lower millstone!
25When Leviathan rises, the mighty # Or the divine beings are terrified;
they withdraw because of his thrashing.
26The sword that reaches him will have no effect,
nor will a spear, dart, or arrow.
27He regards iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28No arrow can make him flee;
slingstones become like stubble to him.
29A club is regarded as stubble,
and he laughs # 2Ch 30:10; Jb 39:7,18; Hab 1:10 at the sound of a javelin.
30His undersides are jagged potsherds,
spreading the mud like a threshing sledge. # Is 41:15; Am 1:3
31He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron;
he makes the sea like an ointment jar.
32He leaves a shining wake behind him; # Lit a path
one would think the deep had gray hair!
33He has no equal on earth —
a creature devoid of fear!
34He surveys everything that is haughty;
he is king over all the proud beasts. # Lit the children of pride
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