1Can you catch Leviathan with a fish-hook
or tie his tongue down with a rope?
2Can you put a rope through his snout
or put a hook through his jaws?
3Will he beg you to let him go?
Will he plead with you for mercy?
4Will he make an agreement with you
and promise to serve you for ever?
5Will you tie him up like a pet bird,
like something to amuse your servant women?
6Will fishermen bargain over him?
Will merchants cut him up to sell?
7Can you fill his hide with fishing spears
or pierce his head with a harpoon?
8Touch him once and you'll never try it again;
you'll never forget the fight!
9Anyone who sees Leviathan
loses courage and falls to the ground.
10When he is aroused, he is fierce;
no one would dare to stand before him.
11Who can attack him and still be safe?
No one in all the world can do it.
12Let me tell you about Leviathan's legs
and describe how great and strong he is.
13No one can tear off his outer coat
or pierce the armour he wears.
14Who can make him open his jaws,
ringed with those terrifying teeth?
15His back is made of rows of shields,
fastened together and hard as stone.
16Each one is joined so tight to the next,
not even a breath can come between.
17They all are fastened so firmly together
that nothing can ever pull them apart.
18Light flashes when he sneezes,
and his eyes glow like the rising sun.
19Flames blaze from his mouth,
and streams of sparks fly out.
20Smoke comes pouring out of his nose,
like smoke from weeds burning under a pot.
21His breath starts fires burning;
flames leap out of his mouth.
22His neck is so powerful
that all who meet him are terrified.
23There is not a weak spot in his skin;
it is as hard and unyielding as iron.
24His stony heart is without fear,
as unyielding and hard as a millstone.
25When he rises up, even the strongest are frightened;
they are helpless with fear.
26There is no sword that can wound him;
no spear or arrow or lance that can harm him.
27For him iron is as flimsy as straw,
and bronze as soft as rotten wood.
28There is no arrow that can make him run;
rocks thrown at him are like bits of straw.
29To him a club is a piece of straw,
and he laughs when men throw spears.
30The scales on his belly are like jagged pieces of pottery;
they tear up the muddy ground like a threshing-sledge.
31He churns up the sea like boiling water
and makes it bubble like a pot of oil.
32He leaves a shining path behind him
and turns the sea to white foam.
33There is nothing on earth to compare with him;
he is a creature that has no fear.
34He looks down on even the proudest animals;
he is king of all wild beasts.
