Job 41 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

1 ‘Job, can you pull Leviathan out of the sea with a fishhook? Can you tie down its tongue with a rope? 2 Can you put a rope through its nose? Can you stick a hook through its jaw? 3 Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak gently to you? 4 Will it make an agreement with you? Can you make it your slave for life? 5 Can you make a pet out of it like a bird? Can you put it on a leash for the young women in your house? 6 Will traders offer you something for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? 7 Can you fill its body with harpoons? Can you throw fishing spears into its head? 8 If you touch it, it will fight you. Then you will remember never to touch it again! 9 No one can possibly control Leviathan. Just looking at it will terrify you. 10 No one dares to wake it up. So who can possibly stand up to me? 11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything on earth belongs to me. 12 ‘Now I will speak about the Leviathan’s legs. I will talk about its strength and its graceful body. 13 Who can strip off its outer coat? Who would try to pierce its double coat of armour? 14 Who dares to open its jaws? Its mouth is filled with terrifying teeth. 15 Its back has rows of shields that are close together. 16 Each one is so close to the next one that not even air can pass between them. 17 They are joined tightly to one another. They stick together and can’t be forced apart. 18 Leviathan’s snorting throws out flashes of light. Its eyes shine like the first light of day. 19 Flames spray out of its mouth. Sparks of fire shoot out. 20 Smoke pours out of its nose. It is like smoke from a boiling pot over burning grass. 21 Its breath sets coals on fire. Flames fly out of its mouth. 22 Its neck is very strong. People run to get out of its way. 23 Its rolls of fat are close together. They are firm and can’t be moved. 24 Its chest is as hard as rock. It is as hard as a lower millstone. 25 When Leviathan rises up, even mighty people are terrified. They run away when it moves around wildly. 26 A sword that strikes it has no effect. Neither does a spear or dart or javelin. 27 It treats iron as if it were straw. It crushes bronze as if it were rotten wood. 28 Arrows do not make it run away. Stones that are thrown from slings are like straw hitting it. 29 A club seems like a piece of straw to it. It laughs when it hears a javelin rattling. 30 Its undersides are like broken pieces of pottery. It leaves a trail in the mud like a threshing sled. 31 It makes the ocean churn like a boiling pot. It stirs up the sea like perfume someone is making. 32 It leaves a shiny trail behind it. You would think the ocean had white hair. 33 Nothing on earth is equal to Leviathan. That creature is not afraid of anything. 34 It looks down on proud people. It rules over all those who are proud.’

English Standard Version

1 ^[1] “Can you draw out Leviathan^[2] with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? (Job 3:8; Ps 74:14; Ps 104:26; Isa 27:1)

Job 3:8Ps 74:14Ps 104:26Isa 27:1

2 Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? (2Ki 19:28; Isa 37:29) 3 Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words? 4 Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? (Ex 21:6; De 15:17) 5 Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls? 6 Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? 7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? 8 Lay your hands on him; remember the battle—you will not do it again! 9 ^[3] Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him. 10 No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me? 11 Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. (Job 35:7; Ps 24:1; Ro 11:35) 12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. 13 Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle? 14 Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. 15 His back is made of^[4] rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal. 16 One is so near to another that no air can come between them. 17 They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated. (Job 41:23) 18 His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. (Job 3:9) 19 Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. 20 Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. 21 His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth. (2Sa 22:13; Ps 18:8) 22 In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him. 23 The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable. (Job 41:17) 24 His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone. 25 When he raises himself up, the mighty^[5] are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves. 26 Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. 27 He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. 28 The arrow cannot make him flee; for him, sling stones are turned to stubble. 29 Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of javelins. 30 His underparts are like sharp potsherds; he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire. (Job 2:8; Isa 28:27; Isa 41:15) 31 He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. 32 Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be white-haired. 33 On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear. (Job 19:25) 34 He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride.” (Job 28:8)