Job 41 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

The LORD’s Challenge Continues

Job 41:1

Job 41:1 [fn]“Can you catch Leviathan[fn] with a hook
or put a noose around its jaw?

Job 41:2

Job 41:2Can you tie it with a rope through the nose
or pierce its jaw with a spike?

Job 41:3

Job 41:3Will it beg you for mercy
or implore you for pity?

Job 41:4

Job 41:4Will it agree to work for you,
to be your slave for life?

Job 41:5

Job 41:5Can you make it a pet like a bird,
or give it to your little girls to play with?

Job 41:6

Job 41:6Will merchants try to buy it
to sell it in their shops?

Job 41:7

Job 41:7Will its hide be hurt by spears
or its head by a harpoon?

Job 41:8

Job 41:8If you lay a hand on it,
you will certainly remember the battle that follows.
You won’t try that again!

Job 41:9

Job 41:9 [fn]No, it is useless to try to capture it.
The hunter who attempts it will be knocked down.

Job 41:10

Job 41:10And since no one dares to disturb it,
who then can stand up to me?

Job 41:11

Job 41:11Who has given me anything that I need to pay back?
Everything under heaven is mine.

Job 41:12

Job 41:12“I want to emphasize Leviathan’s limbs
and its enormous strength and graceful form.

Job 41:13

Job 41:13Who can strip off its hide,
and who can penetrate its double layer of armor?[fn]

Job 41:14

Job 41:14Who could pry open its jaws?
For its teeth are terrible!

Job 41:15

Job 41:15Its scales are like rows of shields
tightly sealed together.

Job 41:16

Job 41:16They are so close together
that no air can get between them.

Job 41:17

Job 41:17Each scale sticks tight to the next.
They interlock and cannot be penetrated.

Job 41:18

Job 41:18“When it sneezes, it flashes light!
Its eyes are like the red of dawn.

Job 41:19

Job 41:19Lightning leaps from its mouth;
flames of fire flash out.

Job 41:20

Job 41:20Smoke streams from its nostrils
like steam from a pot heated over burning rushes.

Job 41:21

Job 41:21Its breath would kindle coals,
for flames shoot from its mouth.

Job 41:22

Job 41:22“The tremendous strength in Leviathan’s neck
strikes terror wherever it goes.

Job 41:23

Job 41:23Its flesh is hard and firm
and cannot be penetrated.

Job 41:24

Job 41:24Its heart is hard as rock,
hard as a millstone.

Job 41:25

Job 41:25When it rises, the mighty are afraid,
gripped by terror.

Job 41:26

Job 41:26No sword can stop it,
no spear, dart, or javelin.

Job 41:27

Job 41:27Iron is nothing but straw to that creature,
and bronze is like rotten wood.

Job 41:28

Job 41:28Arrows cannot make it flee.
Stones shot from a sling are like bits of grass.

Job 41:29

Job 41:29Clubs are like a blade of grass,
and it laughs at the swish of javelins.

Job 41:30

Job 41:30Its belly is covered with scales as sharp as glass.
It plows up the ground as it drags through the mud.

Job 41:31

Job 41:31“Leviathan makes the water boil with its commotion.
It stirs the depths like a pot of ointment.

Job 41:32

Job 41:32The water glistens in its wake,
making the sea look white.

Job 41:33

Job 41:33Nothing on earth is its equal,
no other creature so fearless.

Job 41:34

Job 41:34Of all the creatures, it is the proudest.
It is the king of beasts.”

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(41:1)

Verses 41:1-8 are numbered 40:25-32 in Hebrew text.

(41:1)

The identification of Leviathan is disputed, ranging from an earthly creature to a mythical sea monster in ancient literature.

(41:9)

Verses 41:9-34 are numbered 41:1-26 in Hebrew text.

(41:13)

As in Greek version; Hebrew reads its bridle?

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