New International Version NIV
Good News Translation GNT
1 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope?
1
Can you catch Leviathan with a fishhook or tie his tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook?
2
Can you put a rope through his snout or put a hook through his jaws?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words?
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Will he beg you to let him go? Will he plead with you for mercy?
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 an agreement with you and promise to serve you forever?
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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Will you tie him like a pet bird, like something to amuse your servant women?
6 Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?
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Will fishermen bargain over him? Will merchants cut him up to sell?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?
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Can you fill his hide with fishing spears or pierce his head with a harpoon?
8 If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
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Touch him once and you'll never try it again; you'll never forget the fight!
9 Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering.
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Anyone who sees Leviathan loses courage and falls to the ground.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me?
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When he is aroused, he is fierce; no one would dare to stand before him.
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
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Who can attack him and still be safe? No one in all the world can do it.
12 “I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form.
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Let me tell you about Leviathan's legs and describe how great and strong he is.
13 Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor ?
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No one can tear off his outer coat or pierce the armor he wears.
14 Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth?
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Who can make him open his jaws, ringed with those terrifying teeth?
15 Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together;
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His back is made of rows of shields, fastened together and hard as stone.
16 each is so close to the next that no air can pass between.
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Each one is joined so tight to the next, not even a breath can come between.
17 They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted.
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They all are fastened so firmly together that nothing can ever pull them apart.
18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
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Light flashes when he sneezes, and his eyes glow like the rising sun.
19 Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.
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Flames blaze from his mouth, and streams of sparks fly out.
20 Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
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Smoke comes pouring out of his nose, like smoke from weeds burning under a pot.
21 Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth.
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His breath starts fires burning; flames leap out of his mouth.
22 Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it.
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His neck is so powerful that all who meet him are terrified.
23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
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There is not a weak spot in his skin; it is as hard and unyielding as iron.
24 Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.
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His stony heart is without fear, as unyielding and hard as a millstone.
25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing.
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When he rises up, even the strongest are frightened; they are helpless with fear.
26 The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
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There is no sword that can wound him; no spear or arrow or lance that can harm him.
27 Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.
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For him iron is as flimsy as straw, and bronze as soft as rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it.
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There is no arrow that can make him run; rocks thrown at him are like bits of straw.
29 A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
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To him a club is a piece of straw, and he laughs when men throw spears.
30 Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
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The scales on his belly are like jagged pieces of pottery; they tear up the muddy ground like a threshing sledge.
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 churns up the sea like boiling water and makes it bubble like a pot of oil.
32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair.
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He leaves a shining path behind him and turns the sea to white foam.
33 Nothing on earth is its equal— a creature without fear.
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There is nothing on earth to compare with him; he is a creature that has no fear.
34 It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.”
34
He looks down on even the proudest animals; he is king of all wild 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.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.