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41 I will not stir him up, like one that is cruel: for who can resist my countenance?

Who hath given me before that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine.

I will not spare him, nor his mighty words, and framed to make supplication.

Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can go into the midst of his mouth?

Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.

His body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales pressing upon one another.

One is joined to another, and not so much as any air can come between them:

They stick one to another and they hold one another fast, and shall not be separated.

His sneezing is like the shining of fire, and his eyes like the eyelids of the morning.

10 Out of his mouth go forth lamps, like torches of lighted fire.

11 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, like that of a pot heated and boiling.

12 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame cometh forth out of his mouth.

13 In his neck strength shall dwell, and want goeth before his face.

14 The members of his flesh cleave one to another: he shall send lightnings against him, and they shall not be carried to another place.

15 His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a smith's anvil.

16 When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and being affrighted shall purify themselves.

17 When a sword shall lay at him, it shall not be able to hold, nor a spear, nor a breastplate.

18 For he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.

19 The archer shall not put him to flight, the stones of the sling are to him like stubble.

20 As stubble will he esteem the hammer, and he will laugh him to scorn who shaketh the spear.

21 The beams of the sun shall be under him, and he shall strew gold under him like mire.

22 He shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot, and shall make it as when ointments boil.

23 A path shall shine after him, he shall esteem the deep as growing old.

24 There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him who was made to fear no one.

25 He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the children of pride.

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