Common English Bible CEB
English Standard Version ESV
1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, restrain his tongue with a rope?
1
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?
2 Can you put a cord through his nose, pierce his jaw with a barb?
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Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he beg you at length or speak gentle words to you?
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Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words?
4 Will he make a pact with you so that you will take him as a permanent slave?
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Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever?
5 Can you play with him like a bird, put a leash on him for your girls?
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Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Will merchants sell him; will they divide him among traders?
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Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his hide with darts, his head with a fishing spear?
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Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
8 Should you lay your hand on him, you would never remember the battle.
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Lay your hands on him; remember the battle—you will not do it again!
9 Such hopes would be delusional; surely the sight of him makes one stumble.
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Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him.
10 Nobody is fierce enough to rouse him; who then can stand before me?
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No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?
11 Who opposes me that I must repay? Everything under heaven is mine.
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Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12 I'm not awed by his limbs, his strength, and impressive form.
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“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
13 Who can remove his outer garment; who can come with a bridle for him?
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Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his mouth, surrounded by frightening teeth?
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Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror.
15 His matching scales are his pride, closely locked and sealed.
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His back is made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal.
16 One touches another; even air can't come between them.
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One is so near to another that no air can come between them.
17 Each clings to its pair; joined, they can't be separated.
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They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezes emit flashes of light; his eyes are like dawn's rays.
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His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
19 Shafts of fire shoot from his mouth; like fiery sparks they fly out.
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Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth.
20 Smoke pours from his nostrils like a boiling pot over reeds.
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Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 His breath lights coals; a flame shoots from his mouth.
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His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
22 Power resides in his neck; violence dances before him.
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In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh stick together; on him they are tough and unyielding.
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The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable.
24 His heart is solid like a rock, hard like a lower millstone.
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His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone.
25 The divine beings dread his rising; they withdraw before his thrashing.
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When he raises himself up the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26 The sword that touches him won't prevail; neither will the dart, spear, nor javelin.
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Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 He treats iron as straw, bronze as rotten wood.
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He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.
28 Arrows can't make him flee; slingstones he turns to straw.
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The arrow cannot make him flee; for him sling stones are turned to stubble.
29 He treats a club like straw; he laughs at the lance's rattle.
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Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30 His abdomen is like jagged pottery shards; its sharp edges leave a trail in the mud.
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His underparts are like sharp potsherds; he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 He causes the depths to churn like a boiling pot, stirs up the sea like a pot of scented oils,
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He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 leaves a bright wake behind him; the frothy deep seems white-haired.
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Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33 None on earth can compare to him; he is made to be without fear.
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On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear.
34 He looks on all the proud; he is king over all proud beasts.
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He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride. ”
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025