New Century Version NCV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 "Can you catch the leviathann on afish hook or tie its tongue down with a rope?
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"And Livyatan! Can you catch him with a fishhook or hold his tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose or a hook in its jaw?
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Can you put a ring in his nose or pierce his jaw with a barb?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy and speak to you with gentle words?
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Will he entreat you at length? Will he speak with you softly?
4 Will it make an agreement with you and let you take it as your slave for life?
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Will he agree with you to be your slave forever?
5 Can you make a pet of the leviathan as you would a bird or put it on a leash for your girls?
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Will you play with him as you would with a bird or keep him on a string to amuse your little girls?
6 Will traders try to bargain with you for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?
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Will a group of fishermen turn him into a banquet? Will they divide him among the merchants?
7 Can you stick darts all over its skin or fill its head with fishing spears?
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Can you fill his skin with darts or his head with fish-spears?
8 If you put one hand on it, you will never forget the battle, and you will never do it again!
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If you lay your hand on him, you won't forget the fight, and you'll never do it again!
9 There is no hope of defeating it; just seeing it overwhelms people.
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"Look, any hope [of capturing him] is futile -one would fall prostrate at the very sight of him.
10 No one is brave enough to make it angry, so who would be able to stand up against me?
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No one is fierce enough to rouse him, so who can stand up to me?
11 No one has ever given me anything that I must pay back, because everything under the sky belongs to me.
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Who has given me anything and made me pay it back? Everything belongs to me under all of heaven.
12 "I will speak about Leviathan's arms and legs, its great strength and well-formed body.
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"I have more to say about his limbs, his strong talk, and his matchless strength.
13 No one can tear off its outer hide or poke through its double armor.
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Who can strip off his [scaly] garment? Who can enter his jaws?
14 No one can force open its great jaws; they are filled with frightening teeth.
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Who can pry open the doors of his face, so close to his terrible teeth?
15 It has rows of shields on its back that are tightly sealed together.
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"His pride is his rows of scales, tightly sealed together -
16 Each shield is so close to the next one that no air can go between them.
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one is so close to the next that no air can come between them;
17 They are joined strongly to one another; they hold on to each other and cannot be separated.
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they are stuck one to another, interlocked and impervious.
18 When it snorts, flashes of light are thrown out, and its eyes look like the light at dawn.
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"When he sneezes, light flashes out; his eyes are like the shimmer of dawn.
19 Flames blaze from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.
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From his mouth go fiery torches, and sparks come flying out.
20 Smoke pours out of its nose, as if coming from a large pot over a hot fire.
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His nostrils belch steam like a caldron boiling on the fire.
21 Its breath sets coals on fire, and flames come out of its mouth.
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His breath sets coals ablaze; flames pour from his mouth.
22 There is great strength in its neck. People are afraid and run away.
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"Strength resides in his neck, and dismay dances ahead of him [as he goes].
23 The folds of its skin are tightly joined; they are set and cannot be moved.
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The layers of his flesh stick together; they are firm on him, immovable.
24 Its chest is as hard as a rock, even as hard as a grinding stone.
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His heart is as hard as a stone, yes, hard as a lower millstone.
25 The powerful fear its terrible looks and draw back in fear as it moves.
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When he rears himself up, the gods are afraid, beside themselves in despair.
26 The sword that hits it does not hurt it, nor the arrows, darts, and spears.
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"If a sword touches him, it won't stick; neither will a spear, or a dart, or a lance.
27 It treats iron as if it were straw and bronze metal as if it were rotten wood.
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He regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.
28 It does not run away from arrows; stones from slings are like chaff to it.
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An arrow can't make him flee; for him, slingstones are so much chaff.
29 Clubs feel like pieces of straw to it, and it laughs when they shake a spear at it.
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Clubs count as hay, and he laughs at a quivering javelin.
30 The underside of its body is like broken pieces of pottery. It leaves a trail in the mud like a threshing board.
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His belly is as sharp as fragments of pottery, so he moves across the mud like a threshing-sledge.
31 It makes the deep sea bubble like a boiling pot; it stirs up the sea like a pot of oil.
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"He makes the depths seethe like a pot, he makes the sea [boil] like a perfume kettle.
32 When it swims, it leaves a shining path in the water that makes the sea look as if it had white hair.
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He leaves a shining wake behind him, making the deep seem to have white hair.
33 Nothing else on earth is equal to it; it is a creature without fear.
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"On earth there is nothing like him, a creature without fear.
34 It looks down on all those who are too proud; it is king over all proud creatures."
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He looks straight at all high things. He is king over all proud beasts."
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.