The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
King James Version KJV
1 "And Livyatan! Can you catch him with a fishhook or hold his tongue down with a rope?
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Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
2 Can you put a ring in his nose or pierce his jaw with a barb?
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Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
3 Will he entreat you at length? Will he speak with you softly?
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Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?
4 Will he agree with you to be your slave forever?
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Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
5 Will you play with him as you would with a bird or keep him on a string to amuse your little girls?
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Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
6 Will a group of fishermen turn him into a banquet? Will they divide him among the merchants?
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Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his skin with darts or his head with fish-spears?
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Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?
8 If you lay your hand on him, you won't forget the fight, and you'll never do it again!
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Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.
9 "Look, any hope [of capturing him] is futile -one would fall prostrate at the very sight of him.
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Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse him, so who can stand up to me?
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None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
11 Who has given me anything and made me pay it back? Everything belongs to me under all of heaven.
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Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12 "I have more to say about his limbs, his strong talk, and his matchless strength.
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I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.
13 Who can strip off his [scaly] garment? Who can enter his jaws?
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Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle?
14 Who can pry open the doors of his face, so close to his terrible teeth?
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Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.
15 "His pride is his rows of scales, tightly sealed together -
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His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.
16 one is so close to the next that no air can come between them;
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One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.
17 they are stuck one to another, interlocked and impervious.
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They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.
18 "When he sneezes, light flashes out; his eyes are like the shimmer of dawn.
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By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 From his mouth go fiery torches, and sparks come flying out.
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Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.
20 His nostrils belch steam like a caldron boiling on the fire.
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Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.
21 His breath sets coals ablaze; flames pour from his mouth.
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His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.
22 "Strength resides in his neck, and dismay dances ahead of him [as he goes].
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In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.
23 The layers of his flesh stick together; they are firm on him, immovable.
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The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.
24 His heart is as hard as a stone, yes, hard as a lower millstone.
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His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.
25 When he rears himself up, the gods are afraid, beside themselves in despair.
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When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves.
26 "If a sword touches him, it won't stick; neither will a spear, or a dart, or a lance.
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The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.
27 He regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.
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He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.
28 An arrow can't make him flee; for him, slingstones are so much chaff.
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The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble.
29 Clubs count as hay, and he laughs at a quivering javelin.
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Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.
30 His belly is as sharp as fragments of pottery, so he moves across the mud like a threshing-sledge.
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Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.
31 "He makes the depths seethe like a pot, he makes the sea [boil] like a perfume kettle.
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He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 He leaves a shining wake behind him, making the deep seem to have white hair.
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He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary.
33 "On earth there is nothing like him, a creature without fear.
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Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.
34 He looks straight at all high things. He is king over all proud beasts."
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He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The King James Version is in the public domain.