| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? | 1"Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? |
| 2Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? | 2Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook? |
| 3Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? | 3Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? |
| 4Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? | 4Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? |
| 5Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? | 5Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? |
| 6Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants? | 6Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? |
| 7Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears? | 7Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears? |
| 8Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more. | 8If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! |
| 9Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? | 9Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. |
| 10None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me? | 10No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me? |
| 11Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. | 11Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. |
| 12I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. | 12"I will not fail to speak of Leviathan's limbs, its strength and its graceful form. |
| 13Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle? | 13Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? |
| 14Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. | 14Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth? |
| 15His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close 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 stick together, that they cannot be sundered. | 17They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. |
| 18By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. | 18Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. |
| 19Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. | 19Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. |
| 20Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. | 20Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. |
| 21His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. | 21Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth. |
| 22In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him. | 22Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. |
| 23The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved. | 23The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. |
| 24His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. | 24Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. |
| 25When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves. | 25When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing. |
| 26The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. | 26The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. |
| 27He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. | 27Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. |
| 28The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble. | 28Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it. |
| 29Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear. | 29A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. |
| 30Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire. | 30Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. |
| 31He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh 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. |
| 32He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. | 32It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair. |
| 33Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. | 33Nothing on earth is its equal-- a creature without fear. |
| 34He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride. | 34It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud." |
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