| Holman Christian Standard Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie his tongue down with a rope? | 1 "Can you draw Leviathan out of the water with a hook, or tie down his tongue with a rope? |
| 2Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? | 2Can you attach a bridle to his snout, or pierce his jaw with a hook? |
| 3Will he beg you for mercy or speak softly to you? | 3Will he make many supplications to you, or will he beg you for mercy? |
| 4Will he make a covenant with you so that you can take him as a slave forever? | 4Will he try to make a deal with you, so that you may take him in servitude forever? |
| 5Can you play with him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? | 5"Will you play with him like a pet bird? Will you put a leash on him for your little girls? |
| 6Will traders bargain for him or divide him among the merchants? | 6Will your business be able to buy him, Will you divide him among your merchant friends? |
| 7Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? | 7Will you fill his flesh with harpoons, or his head with lances? |
| 8Lay a hand on him. You will remember the battle and never repeat it! | 8Lay your hand on him, and you'll remember the struggle. You'll never do that again! |
| 9Any hope of capturing him proves false. Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him? | 9"Look! Anyone's hope to capture him will prove itself false; anyone would be terrified just by looking at him. |
| 10No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan; who then can stand against Me? | 10No one is fierce enough to dare to arouse him. "Who, then, can stand in my presence and face me? |
| 11Who confronted Me, that I should repay him? Everything under heaven belongs to Me. | 11Who can take me to court and be reconciled to me? All of heaven is mine. |
| 12I cannot be silent about his limbs, his power, and his graceful proportions. | 12"I won't be silent concerning his limbs, his mighty strength, and orderly frame. |
| 13Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double layer of armor? | 13Who can strip off his outer armor? Who can approach him with a bridle? |
| 14Who can open his jaws, surrounded by those terrifying teeth? | 14Who dares to open his mouth, since it is ringed with his terrible teeth! |
| 15His pride is in his rows of scales, closely sealed together. | 15His protective scales are his pride, they lie sealed tightly together. |
| 16One scale is so close to another that no air can pass between them. | 16Each one is so close to the other that not even air comes in between them. |
| 17They are joined to one another, so closely connected they cannot be separated. | 17Each is attached to the other, grasping each other so they cannot be separated. |
| 18His snorting flashes with light, while his eyes are like the rays of dawn. | 18"His snorting releases flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of the dawn. |
| 19Flaming torches shoot from his mouth; fiery sparks fly out! | 19Flames blaze from his mouth; streams of sparking fire fly out. |
| 20Smoke billows from his nostrils as from a boiling pot or burning reeds. | 20Smoke billows from his nostrils; like a boiling pot or burning reeds. |
| 21His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour out of his mouth. | 21His breath can ignite coal; and flames proceed from his mouth. |
| 22Strength resides in his neck, and dismay dances before him. | 22"His neck is so powerful that all who meet him are terrified. |
| 23The folds of his flesh are joined together, solid as metal and immovable. | 23There is no flaw in his body's armor; it is firmly fixed on him and unbreachable. |
| 24His heart is as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone! | 24His heart is as strong as stone, it is as hard as a lower millstone. |
| 25When Leviathan rises, the mighty are terrified; they withdraw because of his thrashing. | 25When he rears up, the mighty are terrified; they are bewildered as he thrashes about. |
| 26The sword that reaches him will have no effect, nor will a spear, dart, or arrow. | 26"Thrusting at him with a sword won't be effective, nor will spears, darts, or javelins. |
| 27He regards iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. | 27He regards iron like straw, and hardened bronze like a dead tree. |
| 28No arrow can make him flee; slingstones become like stubble to him. | 28Arrows won't make him flee; stones from a sling are only pebbles to him. |
| 29A club is regarded as stubble, and he laughs at the sound of a javelin. | 29Clubs are like twigs; he laughs at the whoosh of the javelin. |
| 30His undersides are jagged potsherds, spreading the mud like a threshing sledge. | 30"Beneath him he is armored as with sharp potsherds; he tears through muddy ground like a threshing sledge through grain. |
| 31He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; he makes the sea like an ointment jar. | 31He causes the deep to boil like water in a pot, and churns the sea like one stirs ointment. |
| 32He leaves a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had gray hair! | 32The sea is luminescent behind him; his wake turns the sea white, like those with gray hair. |
| 33He has no equal on earth-- a creature devoid of fear! | 33"There's nothing like him on earth; he was created without the ability to fear. |
| 34He surveys everything that is haughty; he is king over all the proud beasts. | 34He looks down on everything that is high; he rules over every kind of pride." |
|
