² Can you put a reed through his nose,
Or pierce his jaw with a hook?

³ Will he make many supplications to you?
Will he speak softly to you?

⁴ Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him as a servant forever?

⁵ Will you play with him as with a bird,
Or will you leash him for your maidens?

⁶ Will your companions make a banquet^[b] of him?
Will they apportion him among the merchants?

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

⁸ Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle—
Never do it again!

⁹ Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false;
Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him?

¹⁰ No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up.
Who then is able to stand against Me?

¹¹ Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him?
Everything under heaven is Mine.

¹² “I will not conceal^[c] his limbs,
His mighty power, or his graceful proportions.

¹³ Who can remove his outer coat?
Who can approach him with a double bridle?

¹⁴ Who can open the doors of his face,
With his terrible teeth all around?

¹⁵ His rows of scales are his pride,
Shut up tightly as with a seal;

¹⁶ One is so near another
That no air can come between them;

¹⁷ They are joined one to another,
They stick together and cannot be parted.

¹⁸ His sneezings flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

¹⁹ Out of his mouth go burning lights;
Sparks of fire shoot out.

²⁰ Smoke goes out of his nostrils,
As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

²¹ His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes out of his mouth.

²² Strength dwells in his neck,
And sorrow dances before him.

²³ The folds of his flesh are joined together;
They are firm on him and cannot be moved.

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

²⁵ When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;
Because of his crashings they are beside^[d] themselves.

²⁶ Though the sword reaches him, it cannot avail;
Nor does spear, dart, or javelin.

²⁷ He regards iron as straw,
And bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸ The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones become like stubble to him.

²⁹ Darts are regarded as straw;
He laughs at the threat of javelins.

³⁰ His undersides are like sharp potsherds;
He spreads pointed marks in the mire.

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

³² He leaves a shining wake behind him;
One would think the deep had white hair.

³³ On earth there is nothing like him,
Which is made without fear.

³⁴ He beholds every high thing;
He is king over all the children of pride.”