Job, 41

¹ “Can you catch Le·viʹa·than^*1 with a fishhook Or hold down its tongue with a rope?

² Can you put a rope^*1 through its nostrils Or pierce its jaws with a hook?^*2

³ Will it make many pleas to you, Or will it speak gently to you?

⁴ Will it make a covenant with you, So that you may make it your slave for life?

⁵ Will you play with it as with a bird Or tie it on a leash for your little girls?

⁶ Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among merchants?

⁷ Will you fill its hide with harpoons Or its head with fishing spears?

⁸ Lay your hand on it; You will remember the battle and never do it again!

⁹ Any hope of subduing it is futile. The mere sight of it would overwhelm you.^*1

¹⁰ No one dares to stir it up. So who is it who can stand up to me?

¹¹ Who has given me anything first that I should repay him? Whatever is under the heavens is mine.

¹² I will not be silent about its limbs, About its mightiness and its well-formed body.

¹³ Who has removed its outer covering? Who will enter its open jaws?

¹⁴ Who can pry open the doors of its mouth?^*1 Its teeth all around are fearsome.

¹⁵ Its back has rows of scales^*1 Tightly sealed together.

¹⁶ Each one fits so closely to the other That no air can come between them.

¹⁷ They are stuck to one another; They cling together and cannot be separated.

¹⁸ Its snorting flashes out light, And its eyes are like the rays of dawn.

¹⁹ Flashes of lightning go out of its mouth; Fiery sparks escape.

²⁰ Smoke pours out of its nostrils, Like a furnace fueled with rushes.

²¹ Its breath sets coals ablaze, And a flame shoots from its mouth.

²² There is great strength in its neck, And dismay runs before it.

²³ The folds of its flesh are tightly joined together; They are firm, as though cast upon it and immovable.

²⁴ Its heart is hard as stone, Yes, hard as a lower millstone.

²⁵ When it rises up, even the mighty are frightened; Its thrashing causes bewilderment.

²⁶ No sword that reaches it will prevail; Nor will spear, dart, or arrowhead.

²⁷ It regards iron as straw, Copper as rotten wood.

²⁸ An arrow does not make it flee; Slingstones turn into stubble against it.

²⁹ It regards a club as stubble, And it laughs at the rattling of a javelin.

³⁰ Underneath, it is like sharp fragments of pottery; It spreads itself in the mud like a threshing sledge.

³¹ It makes the deep boil just like a pot; It stirs up the sea like an ointment pot.

³² It leaves a glistening wake in its path. One would think that the deep had white hair.

³³ There is nothing like it on the earth, A creature made to have no fear.

³⁴ It glares at everything that is haughty. It is king over all the majestic wild beasts.”