Job 41

1. (9) “Look, any hope [of capturing him] is futile — 1 one would fall prostrate at the very sight of him.

2. (10) No one is fierce enough to rouse him, 2 so who can stand up to me?

3. (11) Who has given me anything 3 and made me pay it back? 3 Everything belongs to me 3 under all of heaven.

4. (12) “I have more to say about his limbs, 4 his strong talk, and his matchless strength.

5. (13) Who can strip off his [scaly] garment? 5 Who can enter his jaws?

6. (14) Who can pry open the doors of his face, 6 so close to his terrible teeth?

7. (15) “His pride is his rows of scales, 7 tightly sealed together —

8. (16) one is so close to the next 8 that no air can come between them;

9. (17) they are stuck one to another, 9 interlocked and impervious.

10. (18) “When he sneezes, light flashes out; 10 his eyes are like the shimmer of dawn.

11. (19) From his mouth go fiery torches, 11 and sparks come flying out.

12. (20) His nostrils belch steam 12 like a caldron boiling on the fire.

13. (21) His breath sets coals ablaze; 13 flames pour from his mouth.

14. (22) “Strength resides in his neck, 14 and dismay dances ahead of him [as he goes].

15. (23) The layers of his flesh stick together; 15 they are firm on him, immovable.

16. (24) His heart is as hard as a stone, 16 yes, hard as a lower millstone.

17. (25) When he rears himself up, the gods are afraid, 17 beside themselves in despair.

18. (26) “If a sword touches him, it won’t stick; 18 neither will a spear, or a dart, or a lance.

19. (27) He regards iron as straw 19 and bronze as rotten wood.

20. (28) An arrow can’t make him flee; 20 for him, slingstones are so much chaff.

21. (29) Clubs count as hay, 21 and he laughs at a quivering javelin.

22. (30) His belly is as sharp as fragments of pottery, 22 so he moves across the mud like a threshing-sledge.

23. (31) “He makes the depths seethe like a pot, 23 he makes the sea [boil] like a perfume kettle.

24. (32) He leaves a shining wake behind him, 24 making the deep seem to have white hair.

25. (33) “On earth there is nothing like him, 25 a creature without fear.

26. (34) He looks straight at all high things. 26 He is king over all proud beasts.”