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The Lord Continues

Can You Catch a Sea Monster?

41 (A) Can you catch a sea monster[a]
    by using a fishhook?
Can you tie its mouth shut
    with a rope?
Can it be led around
by a ring in its nose
    or a hook in its jaw?
Will it beg for mercy?
Will it surrender
    as a slave for life?
Can it be tied by the leg
like a pet bird
    for little girls?
Is it ever chopped up
and its pieces bargained for
    in the fish-market?
Can it be killed
    with harpoons or spears?
Wrestle it just once—
    that will be the end.
Merely a glimpse of this monster
    makes all courage melt.
10 And if it is too fierce
for anyone to attack,
    who would dare oppose me?
11 I am in command of the world
    and in debt to no one.

12 What powerful legs,
what a stout body
    this monster possesses!
13 Who could strip off its armor
or bring it under control
    with a harness?
14 Who would try to open its jaws,
    full of fearsome teeth?
* 15 Its back[b] is covered
    with shield after shield,
16 firmly bound and closer together
17     than breath to breath.

When This Monster Sneezes

18 When this monster sneezes,
lightning flashes, and its eyes
    glow like the dawn.
19 Sparks and fiery flames
    explode from its mouth.
20 And smoke spews from its nose
like steam
    from a boiling pot,
21 while its blazing breath
    scorches everything in sight.

22 Its neck is so tremendous
    that everyone trembles,
23 the weakest parts of its body
are harder than iron,
24     and its heart is stone.
25 When this noisy monster appears,
even the most powerful[c]
    turn and run in fear.
26 No sword or spear can harm it,
27 and weapons of bronze or iron
    are as useless as straw
    or rotten wood.
28 Rocks thrown from a sling
cause it no more harm
    than husks of grain.
This monster fears no arrows,
29     it simply smiles at spears,
and striking it with a stick
is like slapping it with straw.

30 As it crawls through the mud,
its sharp and spiny hide
    tears the ground apart.
31 And when it swims down deep,
the sea starts churning
    like boiling oil,
32 and it leaves behind a trail
    of shining white foam.
33 No other creature on earth
    is so fearless.
34 It is king of all proud creatures,
and it looks upon the others
    as nothing.

Footnotes

  1. 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).
  2. 41.15 back: Two ancient translations; Hebrew “pride.”
  3. 41.25 most powerful: Or “gods.”

41 [a]“Can you pull in Leviathan(A) with a fishhook(B)
    or tie down its tongue with a rope?
Can you put a cord through its nose(C)
    or pierce its jaw with a hook?(D)
Will it keep begging you for mercy?(E)
    Will it speak to you with gentle words?
Will it make an agreement with you
    for you to take it as your slave for life?(F)
Can you make a pet of it like a bird
    or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
Will traders barter for it?
    Will they divide it up among the merchants?
Can you fill its hide with harpoons
    or its head with fishing spears?(G)
If you lay a hand on it,
    you will remember the struggle and never do it again!(H)
Any hope of subduing it is false;
    the mere sight of it is overpowering.(I)
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it.(J)
    Who then is able to stand against me?(K)
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?(L)
    Everything under heaven belongs to me.(M)

12 “I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs,(N)
    its strength(O) and its graceful form.
13 Who can strip off its outer coat?
    Who can penetrate its double coat of armor[b]?(P)
14 Who dares open the doors of its mouth,(Q)
    ringed about with fearsome teeth?
15 Its back has[c] rows of shields
    tightly sealed together;(R)
16 each is so close to the next
    that no air can pass between.
17 They are joined fast to one another;
    they cling together and cannot be parted.
18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
    its eyes are like the rays of dawn.(S)
19 Flames(T) stream from its mouth;
    sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours from its nostrils(U)
    as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21 Its breath(V) sets coals ablaze,
    and flames dart from its mouth.(W)
22 Strength(X) resides in its neck;
    dismay goes before it.
23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;
    they are firm and immovable.
24 Its chest is hard as rock,
    hard as a lower millstone.(Y)
25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified;(Z)
    they retreat before its thrashing.(AA)
26 The sword that reaches it has no effect,
    nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.(AB)
27 Iron it treats like straw(AC)
    and bronze like rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make it flee;(AD)
    slingstones are like chaff to it.
29 A club seems to it but a piece of straw;(AE)
    it laughs(AF) at the rattling of the lance.
30 Its undersides are jagged potsherds,
    leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.(AG)
31 It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron(AH)
    and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.(AI)
32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
    one would think the deep had white hair.
33 Nothing on earth is its equal(AJ)
    a creature without fear.
34 It looks down on all that are haughty;(AK)
    it is king over all that are proud.(AL)

Footnotes

  1. Job 41:1 In Hebrew texts 41:1-8 is numbered 40:25-32, and 41:9-34 is numbered 41:1-26.
  2. Job 41:13 Septuagint; Hebrew double bridle
  3. Job 41:15 Or Its pride is its