Job

1“Can you draw out Leviathanwith a fish hook,or press down his tongue with a cord?

2Can you put a rope into his nose,or pierce his jaw through with a hook?

3Will he make many petitions to you,or will he speak soft words to you?

4Will he make a covenant with you,that you should take him for a servant forever?

5Will you play with him as with a bird?Or will you bind him for your girls?

6Will traders barter for him?Will they part him among the merchants?

7Can you fill his skin with barbed irons,or his head with fish spears?

8Lay your hand on him.Remember the battle, and do so no more.

9Behold, the hope of him is in vain.Won’t one be cast down even at the sight of him?

10None is so fierce that he dare stir him up.Who then is he who can stand before me?

11Who 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.

13Who can strip off his outer garment?Who will come within his jaws?

14Who can open the doors of his face?Around his teeth is terror.

15Strong scales are his pride,shut up together with a close seal.

16One is so near to another,that no air can come between them.

17They are joined to one another.They stick together, so that they can’t be pulled apart.

18His sneezing flashes out light.His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

19Out of his mouth go burning torches.Sparks of fire leap out.

20Out of his nostrils a smoke goes,as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.

21His breath kindles coals.A flame goes out of his mouth.

22There is strength in his neck.Terror dances before him.

23The flakes of his flesh are joined together.They are firm on him. They can’t be moved.

24His heart is as firm as a stone,yes, firm as the lower millstone.

25When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid.They retreat before his thrashing.

26If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail;nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.

27He counts iron as straw,and bronze as rotten wood.

28The arrow can’t make him flee.Sling stones are like chaff to him.

29Clubs are counted as stubble.He laughs at the rushing of the javelin.

30His undersides are like sharp potsherds,leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.

31He makes the deep to boil like a pot.He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

32He makes a path shine after him.One would think the deep had white hair.

33On earth there is not his equal,that is made without fear.

34He sees everything that is high.He is king over all the sons of pride.”

The LORD’s Power Shown in Leviathan

1“Can you pull in Leviathan with a hookor tie down his tongue with a rope?

2Can you put a cord through his noseor pierce his jaw with a hook?

3Will he beg you for mercyor speak to you softly?

4Will he make a covenant with youto take him as a slave for life?

5Can you pet him like a birdor put him on a leash for your maidens?

6Will traders barter for himor divide him among the merchants?

7Can you fill his hide with harpoonsor his head with fishing spears?

8If you lay a hand on him,you will remember the battle and never repeat it!

9Surely hope of overcoming him is false.Is not the sight of him overwhelming?

10No one is so fierce as to rouse Leviathan.Then who is able to stand against Me?

11Who has given to Me that I should repay him?Everything under heaven is Mine.

12I cannot keep silent about his limbs,his power and graceful form.

13Who can strip off his outer coat?Who can approach him with a bridle?

14Who can open his jaws,ringed by his fearsome teeth?

15His rows of scales are his pride,tightly sealed together.

16One scale is so near to anotherthat no air can pass between them.

17They are joined to one another;they clasp and cannot be separated.

18His snorting flashes with light,and his eyes are like the rays of dawn.

19Firebrands stream from his mouth;fiery sparks shoot forth!

20Smoke billows from his nostrilsas from a boiling pot over burning reeds.

21His breath sets coals ablaze,and flames pour from his mouth.

22Strength resides in his neck,and dismay leaps before him.

23The folds of his flesh are tightly joined;they are firm and immovable.

24His chest is as hard as a rock,as hard as a lower millstone!

25When Leviathan rises up, the mighty are terrified;they withdraw before his thrashing.

26The sword that reaches him has no effect,nor does the spear or dart or arrow.

27He regards iron as strawand bronze as rotten wood.

28No arrow can make him flee;slingstones become like chaff to him.

29A club is regarded as straw,and he laughs at the sound of the lance.

30His undersides are jagged potsherds,spreading out the mud like a threshing sledge.

31He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron;he makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

32He leaves a glistening wake behind him;one would think the deep had white hair!

33Nothing on earth is his equal—a creature devoid of fear!

34He looks down on all the haughty;he is king over all the proud.”