41 In Hebrew texts 41:1-8 is numbered 40:25-32, and 41:9-34 is numbered 41:1-26. 1“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down its tongue with a rope?
2Can you put a cord through its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3Will it keep begging you for mercy?
Will it speak to you with gentle words?
4Will it make an agreement with you
for you to take it as your slave for life?
5Can you make a pet of it like a bird
or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
6Will traders barter for it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
8If you lay a hand on it,
you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9Any hope of subduing it is false;
the mere sight of it is overpowering.
10No one is fierce enough to rouse it.
Who then is able to stand against me?
11Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs,
its strength and its graceful form.
13Who can strip off its outer coat?
Who can penetrate its double coat of armor41:13 Septuagint; Hebrew double bridle?
14Who dares open the doors of its mouth,
ringed about with fearsome teeth?
15Its back has41:15 Or Its pride is its rows of shields
tightly sealed together;
16each is so close to the next
that no air can pass between.
17They are joined fast to one another;
they cling together and cannot be parted.
18Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19Flames stream from its mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.
20Smoke pours from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21Its breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames dart from its mouth.
22Strength resides in its neck;
dismay goes before it.
23The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm and immovable.
24Its chest is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.
25When it rises up, the mighty are terrified;
they retreat before its thrashing.
26The sword that reaches it has no effect,
nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
27Iron it treats like straw
and bronze like rotten wood.
28Arrows do not make it flee;
slingstones are like chaff to it.
29A club seems to it but a piece of straw;
it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30Its undersides are jagged potsherds,
leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
32It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
one would think the deep had white hair.
33Nothing on earth is its equal—
a creature without fear.
34It looks down on all that are haughty;
it is king over all that are proud.”
1Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?41.1 leviathan: probably an extinct animal of some kind41.1 which…: Heb. which thou drownest? 2Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? 3Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? 4Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? 5Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? 6Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants? 7Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears? 8Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more. 9Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? 10None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
11Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. 12I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. 13Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle?41.13 with: or, within 14Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. 15His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.41.15 scales: Heb. strong pieces of shields 16One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. 17They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered. 18By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. 19Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. 20Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. 21His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. 22In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.41.22 is turned into joy: Heb. rejoiceth 23The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.41.23 flakes: Heb. fallings 24His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. 25When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves. 26The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.41.26 habergeon: or, breastplate 27He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. 28The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble. 29Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear. 30Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.41.30 Sharp stones: Heb. Sharp pieces of potsherd 31He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. 32He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. 33Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.41.33 is made without fear: or, behave themselves without fear 34He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.
