New Living Translation

English Standard Version

1 “Can you catch Leviathan with a hook or put a noose around its jaw?

1“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?

2Can you tie it with a rope through the nose or pierce its jaw with a spike?

2Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?

3Will it beg you for mercy or implore you for pity?

3Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words?

4Will it agree to work for you, to be your slave for life?

4Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever?

5Can you make it a pet like a bird, or give it to your little girls to play with?

5Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls?

6Will merchants try to buy it to sell it in their shops?

6Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants?

7Will its hide be hurt by spears or its head by a harpoon?

7Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?

8If you lay a hand on it, you will certainly remember the battle that follows. You won’t try that again!

8Lay your hands on him; remember the battle—you will not do it again!

9 No, it is useless to try to capture it. The hunter who attempts it will be knocked down.

9Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him.

10And since no one dares to disturb it, who then can stand up to me?

10No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?

11Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine.

11Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

12“I want to emphasize Leviathan’s limbs and its enormous strength and graceful form.

12“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.

13Who can strip off its hide, and who can penetrate its double layer of armor?

13Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle?

14Who could pry open its jaws? For its teeth are terrible!

14Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror.

15The scales on its back are like rows of shields tightly sealed together.

15His back is made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal.

16They are so close together that no air can get between them.

16One is so near to another that no air can come between them.

17Each scale sticks tight to the next. They interlock and cannot be penetrated.

17They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated.

18“When it sneezes, it flashes light! Its eyes are like the red of dawn.

18His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.

19Lightning leaps from its mouth; flames of fire flash out.

19Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth.

20Smoke streams from its nostrils like steam from a pot heated over burning rushes.

20Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

21Its breath would kindle coals, for flames shoot from its mouth.

21His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth.

22“The tremendous strength in Leviathan’s neck strikes terror wherever it goes.

22In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him.

23Its flesh is hard and firm and cannot be penetrated.

23The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable.

24Its heart is hard as rock, hard as a millstone.

24His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone.

25When it rises, the mighty are afraid, gripped by terror.

25When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves.

26No sword can stop it, no spear, dart, or javelin.

26Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

27Iron is nothing but straw to that creature, and bronze is like rotten wood.

27He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.

28Arrows cannot make it flee. Stones shot from a sling are like bits of grass.

28The arrow cannot make him flee; for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.

29Clubs are like a blade of grass, and it laughs at the swish of javelins.

29Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of javelins.

30Its belly is covered with scales as sharp as glass. It plows up the ground as it drags through the mud.

30His underparts are like sharp potsherds; he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.

31“Leviathan makes the water boil with its commotion. It stirs the depths like a pot of ointment.

31He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

32The water glistens in its wake, making the sea look white.

32Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be white-haired.

33Nothing on earth is its equal, no other creature so fearless.

33On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear.

34Of all the creatures, it is the proudest. It is the king of beasts.”

34He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride.”

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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.