New International Version NIV
The Darby Translation DBY
1 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope?
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Wilt thou draw out the leviathan with the hook, and press down his tongue with a cord?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook?
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Wilt thou put a rush-rope into his nose, and pierce his jaw with a spike?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words?
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Will he make many supplications unto thee? or will he speak softly unto thee?
4 Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life?
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Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him as a bondman for ever?
5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
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Wilt thou play with him as with a bird, and wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
6 Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?
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Shall partners make traffic of him, will they divide him among merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?
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Wilt thou fill his skin with darts, and his head with fish-spears?
8 If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
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Lay thy hand upon him; remember the battle, -- do no more!
9 Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering.
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Lo, hope as to him is belied: is not one cast down even at the sight of him?
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me?
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None is so bold as to stir him up; and who is he that will stand before me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
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Who hath first given to me, that I should repay [him]? [Whatsoever is] under the whole heaven is mine.
12 “I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form.
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I will not be silent as to his parts, the story of his power, and the beauty of his structure.
13 Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor ?
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Who can uncover the surface of his garment? who can come within his double jaws?
14 Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth?
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Who can open the doors of his face? Round about his teeth is terror.
15 Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together;
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The rows of his shields are a pride, shut up together [as with] a close seal.
16 each is so close to the next that no air can pass between.
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One is so near to another that no air can come between them;
17 They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted.
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They are joined each to its fellow; they stick together, and cannot be sundered.
18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
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His sneezings flash light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.
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Out of his mouth go forth flames; sparks of fire leap out:
20 Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
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Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a boiling pot and cauldron.
21 Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth.
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His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.
22 Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it.
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In his neck lodgeth strength, and terror danceth before him.
23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
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The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are fused upon him, they cannot be moved.
24 Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.
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His heart is firm as a stone, yea, firm as the nether [millstone].
25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing.
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When he raiseth himself up, the mighty are afraid: they are beside themselves with consternation.
26 The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
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If any reach him with a sword, it cannot hold; neither spear, nor dart, nor harpoon.
27 Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.
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He esteemeth iron as straw, bronze as rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it.
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The arrow will not make him flee; slingstones are turned with him into stubble.
29 A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
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Clubs are counted as stubble; he laugheth at the shaking of a javelin.
30 Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
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His under parts are sharp potsherds: he spreadeth a threshing-sledge upon the mire.
31 It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
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He maketh the deep to boil like a pot; he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment;
32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair.
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He maketh the path to shine after him: one would think the deep to be hoary.
33 Nothing on earth is its equal— a creature without fear.
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Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.
34 It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.”
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He beholdeth all high things; he is king over all the proud beasts.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.