41 “Can you catch Leviathan[a] on a fishhook?
Or can you tie his tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through his nose
or put a hook in his jaw?
3 Will he keep begging you for mercy?
Will he speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will he make an agreement with you?
Will he let you take him as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of Leviathan as you would a bird?
Or can you put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders try to bargain with you for him?
Will they divide him up among the traders?
7 Can you stick him with darts until his skin is full of them?
Or can you fill his head with fishing spears?
8 If you put one hand on him,
you will never forget the battle.
And you will never do it again!
9 There is no hope of defeating him.
Just seeing him overwhelms people.
10 No one is brave enough to make him angry.
So who would be able to stand up against me?
11 No one has ever given me anything that I must pay back.
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 “I can silence his bragging.
I can silence his brave words and powerful arguments.
13 No one can tear off his outer hide.
No one can poke through his double armor.
14 No one can force open his great jaws.
There are frightening teeth all around his jaws.
15 He has rows of shields on his back.
They are tightly sealed together.
16 Each shield is so close to the next one
that no air can go between them.
17 They are joined strongly to one another.
They hold on to each other and cannot be broken apart.
18 When he snorts, flashes of light are thrown out.
His eyes look like the light at dawn.
19 Flames blaze from his mouth.
Sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours out of his nose
as if coming from a large pot over a hot fire.
21 His breath sets coals on fire.
And flames come out of his mouth.
22 There is great strength in his neck.
People are afraid and run away from him.
23 The folds of his skin are tightly joined.
They are set and cannot be moved.
24 His chest is as hard as a rock.
It is as hard as a stone used to grind grain.
25 Powerful creatures fear his terrible looks.
They draw back in fear as he moves.
26 The sword that hits him does not hurt him.
The darts and spears, small and large, do not hurt him.
27 He treats iron as if it were straw.
And he treats bronze metal as if it were rotten wood.
28 He does not run away from arrows.
Stones from slings are like chaff to him.
29 Clubs feel like pieces of straw to him.
And he laughs when they shake a spear at him.
30 The underside of his body is like broken pieces of pottery.
It leaves a trail in the mud like a threshing board.
31 He makes the deep sea bubble like a boiling pot.
And he stirs up the sea like a pot of oil.
32 When he swims, he leaves a shining path in the water.
It makes the sea look as if it had white hair.
33 Nothing else on earth is equal to him.
He is a creature without fear.
34 He looks down on all those who are too proud.
He is king over all proud creatures.”
Footnotes
- 41:1 Leviathan A sea creature, exact identity unknown.