Job 41 – read and compare multiple versions
Job 41
[1] “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook,
or press down his tongue with a cord?
[2] Can you put a rope into his nose,
or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
[3] Will he make many petitions to you,
or will he speak soft words to you?
[4] Will he make a covenant with you,
that you should take him for a servant forever?
[5] Will you play with him as with a bird?
Or will you bind him for your girls?
[6] Will traders barter for him?
Will they part him among the merchants?
[7] Can you fill his skin with barbed irons,
or his head with fish spears?
[8] Lay your hand on him.
Remember the battle, and do so no more.
[9] Behold, the hope of him is in vain.
Won’t one be cast down even at the sight of him? [10] None is so fierce that he dare stir him up.
Who then is he who can stand before me?
[11] Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
Everything under the heavens is mine. [12] “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.
[13] Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who will come within his jaws?
[14] Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.
[15] Strong scales are his pride,
shut up together with a close seal. [16] One is so near to another,
that no air can come between them.
[17] They are joined to one another.
They stick together, so that they can’t be pulled apart.
[18] His sneezing flashes out light.
His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
[19] Out of his mouth go burning torches.
Sparks of fire leap out.
[20] Out of his nostrils a smoke goes,
as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.
[21] His breath kindles coals.
A flame goes out of his mouth.
[22] There is strength in his neck.
Terror dances before him.
[23] The flakes of his flesh are joined together.
They are firm on him.
They can’t be moved.
[24] His heart is as firm as a stone,
yes, firm as the lower millstone.
[25] When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid.
They retreat before his thrashing.
[26] If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail;
nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.
[27] He counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
[28] The arrow can’t make him flee.
Sling stones are like chaff to him.
[29] Clubs are counted as stubble.
He laughs at the rushing of the javelin.
[30] His undersides are like sharp potsherds,
leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
[31] He makes the deep to boil like a pot.
He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
[32] He makes a path shine after him.
One would think the deep had white hair.
[33] On earth there is not his equal,
that is made without fear.
[34] He sees everything that is high.
He is king over all the sons of pride.”
or press down his tongue with a cord?
[2] Can you put a rope into his nose,
or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
[3] Will he make many petitions to you,
or will he speak soft words to you?
[4] Will he make a covenant with you,
that you should take him for a servant forever?
[5] Will you play with him as with a bird?
Or will you bind him for your girls?
[6] Will traders barter for him?
Will they part him among the merchants?
[7] Can you fill his skin with barbed irons,
or his head with fish spears?
[8] Lay your hand on him.
Remember the battle, and do so no more.
[9] Behold, the hope of him is in vain.
Won’t one be cast down even at the sight of him? [10] None is so fierce that he dare stir him up.
Who then is he who can stand before me?
[11] Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
Everything under the heavens is mine. [12] “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.
[13] Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who will come within his jaws?
[14] Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.
[15] Strong scales are his pride,
shut up together with a close seal. [16] One is so near to another,
that no air can come between them.
[17] They are joined to one another.
They stick together, so that they can’t be pulled apart.
[18] His sneezing flashes out light.
His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
[19] Out of his mouth go burning torches.
Sparks of fire leap out.
[20] Out of his nostrils a smoke goes,
as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.
[21] His breath kindles coals.
A flame goes out of his mouth.
[22] There is strength in his neck.
Terror dances before him.
[23] The flakes of his flesh are joined together.
They are firm on him.
They can’t be moved.
[24] His heart is as firm as a stone,
yes, firm as the lower millstone.
[25] When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid.
They retreat before his thrashing.
[26] If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail;
nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.
[27] He counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
[28] The arrow can’t make him flee.
Sling stones are like chaff to him.
[29] Clubs are counted as stubble.
He laughs at the rushing of the javelin.
[30] His undersides are like sharp potsherds,
leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
[31] He makes the deep to boil like a pot.
He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
[32] He makes a path shine after him.
One would think the deep had white hair.
[33] On earth there is not his equal,
that is made without fear.
[34] He sees everything that is high.
He is king over all the sons of pride.”