New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1 “Can you catch Leviathan with a hook or put a noose around its jaw?

1"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?

2Can you tie it with a rope through the nose or pierce its jaw with a spike?

2"Can you put a rope in his nose Or pierce his jaw with a hook?

3Will it beg you for mercy or implore you for pity?

3"Will he make many supplications to you, Or will he speak to you soft words?

4Will it agree to work for you, to be your slave for life?

4"Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever?

5Can you make it a pet like a bird, or give it to your little girls to play with?

5"Will you play with him as with a bird, Or will you bind him for your maidens?

6Will merchants try to buy it to sell it in their shops?

6"Will the traders bargain over him? Will they divide him among the merchants?

7Will its hide be hurt by spears or its head by a harpoon?

7"Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?

8If you lay a hand on it, you will certainly remember the battle that follows. You won’t try that again!

8"Lay your hand on him; Remember the battle; you will not do it again!

9 No, it is useless to try to capture it. The hunter who attempts it will be knocked down.

9"Behold, your expectation is false; Will you be laid low even at the sight of him?

10And since no one dares to disturb it, who then can stand up to me?

10"No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him; Who then is he that can stand before Me?

11Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine.

11"Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.

12“I want to emphasize Leviathan’s limbs and its enormous strength and graceful form.

12"I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, Or his mighty strength, or his orderly frame.

13Who can strip off its hide, and who can penetrate its double layer of armor?

13"Who can strip off his outer armor? Who can come within his double mail?

14Who could pry open its jaws? For its teeth are terrible!

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

15The scales on its back are like rows of shields tightly sealed together.

15"His strong scales are his pride, Shut up as with a tight seal.

16They are so close together that no air can get between them.

16"One is so near to another That no air can come between them.

17Each scale sticks tight to the next. They interlock and cannot be penetrated.

17"They are joined one to another; They clasp each other and cannot be separated.

18“When it sneezes, it flashes light! Its eyes are like the red of dawn.

18"His sneezes flash forth light, And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

19Lightning leaps from its mouth; flames of fire flash out.

19"Out of his mouth go burning torches; Sparks of fire leap forth.

20Smoke streams from its nostrils like steam from a pot heated over burning rushes.

20"Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

21Its breath would kindle coals, for flames shoot from its mouth.

21"His breath kindles coals, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

22“The tremendous strength in Leviathan’s neck strikes terror wherever it goes.

22"In his neck lodges strength, And dismay leaps before him.

23Its flesh is hard and firm and cannot be penetrated.

23"The folds of his flesh are joined together, Firm on him and immovable.

24Its heart is hard as rock, hard as a millstone.

24"His heart is as hard as a stone, Even as hard as a lower millstone.

25When it rises, the mighty are afraid, gripped by terror.

25"When he raises himself up, the mighty fear; Because of the crashing they are bewildered.

26No sword can stop it, no spear, dart, or javelin.

26"The sword that reaches him cannot avail, Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.

27Iron is nothing but straw to that creature, and bronze is like rotten wood.

27"He regards iron as straw, Bronze as rotten wood.

28Arrows cannot make it flee. Stones shot from a sling are like bits of grass.

28"The arrow cannot make him flee; Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

29Clubs are like a blade of grass, and it laughs at the swish of javelins.

29"Clubs are regarded as stubble; He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

30Its belly is covered with scales as sharp as glass. It plows up the ground as it drags through the mud.

30"His underparts are like sharp potsherds; He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.

31“Leviathan makes the water boil with its commotion. It stirs the depths like a pot of ointment.

31"He makes the depths boil like a pot; He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

32The water glistens in its wake, making the sea look white.

32"Behind him he makes a wake to shine; One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

33Nothing on earth is its equal, no other creature so fearless.

33"Nothing on earth is like him, One made without fear.

34Of all the creatures, it is the proudest. It is the king of beasts.”

34"He looks on everything that is high; He is king over all the sons of pride."

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org