| English Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? | 1"Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? |
| 2Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? | 2Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook? |
| 3Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words? | 3Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? |
| 4Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? | 4Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? |
| 5Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls? | 5Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? |
| 6Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? | 6Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? |
| 7Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? | 7Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears? |
| 8Lay your hands on him; remember the battle—you will not do it again! | 8If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! |
| 9Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him. | 9Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. |
| 10No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me? | 10No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me? |
| 11Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. | 11Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. |
| 12“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. | 12"I will not fail to speak of Leviathan's limbs, its strength and its graceful form. |
| 13Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle? | 13Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? |
| 14Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. | 14Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth? |
| 15His back is made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal. | 15Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; |
| 16One is so near to another that no air can come between them. | 16each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. |
| 17They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated. | 17They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. |
| 18His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. | 18Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. |
| 19Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. | 19Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. |
| 20Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. | 20Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. |
| 21His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth. | 21Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth. |
| 22In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him. | 22Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. |
| 23The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable. | 23The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. |
| 24His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone. | 24Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. |
| 25When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves. | 25When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing. |
| 26Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. | 26The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. |
| 27He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. | 27Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. |
| 28The arrow cannot make him flee; for him, sling stones are turned to stubble. | 28Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it. |
| 29Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of javelins. | 29A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. |
| 30His underparts are like sharp potsherds; he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire. | 30Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. |
| 31He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. | 31It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. |
| 32Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be white-haired. | 32It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair. |
| 33On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear. | 33Nothing on earth is its equal-- a creature without fear. |
| 34He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride.” | 34It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud." |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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