1 Podes tu, com anzol, apanhar o crocodilo
ou lhe travar a língua com uma corda?
2 Podes meter-lhe no nariz uma vara de junco?
Ou furar-lhe as bochechas com um gancho?
3 Acaso, te fará muitas súplicas?
Ou te falará palavras brandas?
4 Fará ele acordo contigo?
Ou tomá-lo-ás por servo para sempre?
5 Brincarás com ele, como se fora um passarinho?
Ou tê-lo-ás preso à correia para as tuas meninas?
6 Acaso, os teus sócios negociam com ele?
Ou o repartirão entre os mercadores?
7 Encher-lhe-ás a pele de arpões?
Ou a cabeça, de farpas?
8 Põe a mão sobre ele,
lembra-te da peleja e nunca mais o intentarás.
9 Eis que a gente se engana em sua esperança;
acaso, não será o homem derribado só em vê-lo?
10 Ninguém há tão ousado, que se atreva a despertá-lo.
Quem é, pois, aquele que pode erguer-se diante de mim?
11 Quem primeiro me deu a mim, para que eu haja de retribuir-lhe?
Pois o que está debaixo de todos os céus é meu.
12 Não me calarei a respeito dos seus membros,
nem da sua grande força, nem da graça da sua compostura.
13 Quem lhe abrirá as vestes do seu dorso?
Ou lhe penetrará a couraça dobrada?
14 Quem abriria as portas do seu rosto?
Pois em roda dos seus dentes está o terror.
15 As fileiras de suas escamas são o seu orgulho,
cada uma bem-encostada como por um selo que as ajusta.
16 A tal ponto uma se chega à outra,
que entre elas não entra nem o ar.
17 Umas às outras se ligam,
aderem entre si e não se podem separar.
18 Cada um dos seus espirros faz resplandecer luz,
e os seus olhos são como as pestanas da alva.
19 Da sua boca saem tochas;
faíscas de fogo saltam dela.
20 Das suas narinas procede fumaça,
como de uma panela fervente ou de juncos que ardem.
21 O seu hálito faz incender os carvões;
e da sua boca sai chama.
22 No seu pescoço reside a força;
e diante dele salta o desespero.
23 Suas partes carnudas são bem-pegadas entre si;
todas fundidas nele e imóveis.
24 O seu coração é firme como uma pedra,
firme como a mó de baixo.
25 Levantando-se ele, tremem os valentes;
quando irrompe, ficam como que fora de si.
26 Se o golpe de espada o alcança, de nada vale,
nem de lança, de dardo ou de flecha.
27 Para ele, o ferro é palha,
e o cobre, pau podre.
28 A seta o não faz fugir;
as pedras das fundas se lhe tornam em restolho.
29 Os porretes atirados são para ele como palha,
e ri-se do brandir da lança.
30 Debaixo do ventre, há escamas pontiagudas;
arrasta-se sobre a lama, como um instrumento de debulhar.
31 As profundezas faz ferver, como uma panela;
torna o mar como caldeira de unguento.
32 Após si, deixa um sulco luminoso;
o abismo parece ter-se encanecido.
33 Na terra, não tem ele igual,
pois foi feito para nunca ter medo.
34 Ele olha com desprezo tudo o que é alto;
é rei sobre todos os animais orgulhosos.
1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with a fishhook?
Or press down his tongue with a cord?
2 Canst thou put a rope into his nose?
Or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
3 Will he make many supplications unto thee?
Or will he speak soft words unto thee?
4 Will he make a covenant with thee,
That thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever?
5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird?
Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
6 Will the bands of fishermen make traffic of him?
Will they part him among the merchants?
7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons,
Or his head with fish-spears?
8 Lay thy hand upon him;
Remember the battle, and do so no more.
9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain:
Will not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
10 None is so fierce that he dare stir him up;
Who then is he that can stand before me?
11 Who hath first given unto me, that I should repay him?
Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12 I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
Nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.
13 Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who shall come within his jaws?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
Round about his teeth is terror.
15 His strong scales are his pride,
Shut up together as with a close seal.
16 One is so near to another,
That no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another;
They stick together, so that they cannot be sundered.
18 His sneezings flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 Out of his mouth go burning torches,
And sparks of fire leap forth.
20 Out of his nostrils a smoke goeth,
As of a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 His breath kindleth coals,
And a flame goeth forth from his mouth.
22 In his neck abideth strength,
And terror danceth before him.
23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together:
They are firm upon him; they cannot be moved.
24 His heart is as firm as a stone;
Yea, firm as the nether millstone.
25 When he raiseth himself up, the mighty are afraid:
By reason of consternation they are beside themselves.
26 If one lay at him with the sword, it cannot avail;
Nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.
27 He counteth iron as straw,
And brass as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee:
Sling-stones are turned with him into stubble.
29 Clubs are counted as stubble:
He laugheth at the rushing of the javelin.
30 His underparts are like sharp potsherds:
He spreadeth as it were a threshing-wain upon the mire.
31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot:
He maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 He maketh a path to shine after him;
One would think the deep to be hoary.
33 Upon earth there is not his like,
That is made without fear.
34 He beholdeth everything that is high:
He is king over all the sons of pride.
1 "Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
6 Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9 Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 "I will not fail to speak of Leviathan's limbs, its strength and its graceful form.
13 Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor "?
14 Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth?
15 Its back has "rows of shields tightly sealed together;
16 each is so close to the next that no air can pass between.
17 They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted.
18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21 Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth.
22 Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it.
23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
24 Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.
25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
27 Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it.
29 A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30 Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair.
33 Nothing on earth is its equal — a creature without fear.
34 It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud."