1
Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook or with the cord
which thou lettest down on his tongue?
2
Canst thou put a hook into his nose or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
3
Will he make many supplications unto thee? Will he speak soft
words unto thee?
4
Will he make a covenant with thee that thou shall take him for a slave for ever?
5
Wilt thou play with him as
with a bird, or wilt thou tie him up for thy maidens?
6
Shall the companions make a banquet of him? Shall they part him among the merchants?
7
Canst thou cut his skin with knives or his head with a fish spear?
8
Lay thine hand upon him; thou shalt remember the battle and do no more.
9
Behold, your hope
regarding him shall fail; for even at the sight of him they shall faint.
10
No one
is so bold as to dare stir him up; who then shall be able to stand before me?
11
Who has preceded me, that I should repay
him? All that is under the whole heaven is mine.
12
I will not conceal his lies, nor his might, nor the beauty of his order.
13
Who shall uncover the face of his garment?
Or who shall come to him with a double bridle?
14
Who shall open the doors of his face? The orders of his teeth
are terrible.
15
His scales {Heb. shields}
are his pride, shut up together
as with a close seal.
16
One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.
17
They are joined one to another; they stick together, that they cannot be separated.
18
By his sneezings lights are lit, and his eyes
are like the eyelids of the morning.
19
Out of his mouth go burning lamps,
and sparks of fire leap out.
20
Out of his nostrils goes forth smoke, as
out of a seething pot or caldron.
21
His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth.
22
In his neck dwells strength, and before him the work is undone.
23
The failings of his flesh are joined together;
his flesh is firm in him and does not move.
24
His heart is as firm as a stone; as hard as a piece of the lower
millstone.
25
Of his greatness, the mighty are afraid; by reason of breakings they remove sin from themselves.
26
When one catches up to him, no sword or spear or dart or coat of mail shall endure
against him.
27
He esteems iron as straw
and bronze as rotten wood.
28
The arrow cannot make him flee; with him, slingstones are turned into stubble.
29
He counts any weapon as stubble; he laughs at the shaking of a spear.
30
Broken clay vessels
are under him; he carves his imprint upon the mire.
31
He makes the deep to boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32
He makes the path shine after him;
one would think the deep
to be hoary.
33
Upon earth there is not his like, who behaves without fear.
34
He despises all exalted
things; he is king over all the sons of pride.