| New International Version | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1"Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? | 1Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie his tongue down with a rope? |
| 2Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook? | 2Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? |
| 3Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? | 3Will he beg you for mercy or speak softly to you? |
| 4Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? | 4Will he make a covenant with you so that you can take him as a slave forever? |
| 5Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? | 5Can you play with him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? |
| 6Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? | 6Will traders bargain for him or divide him among the merchants? |
| 7Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears? | 7Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? |
| 8If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! | 8Lay a hand on him. You will remember the battle and never repeat it! |
| 9Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. | 9Any hope of capturing him proves false. Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him? |
| 10No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me? | 10No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan; who then can stand against me? |
| 11Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. | 11Who confronted me, that I should repay him? Everything under heaven belongs to me. |
| 12"I will not fail to speak of Leviathan's limbs, its strength and its graceful form. | 12I cannot be silent about his limbs, his power, and his graceful proportions. |
| 13Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? | 13Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double layer of armor? |
| 14Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth? | 14Who can open his jaws, surrounded by those terrifying teeth? |
| 15Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; | 15His pride is in his rows of scales, closely sealed together. |
| 16each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. | 16One scale is so close to another that no air can pass between them. |
| 17They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. | 17They are joined to one another, so closely connected they cannot be separated. |
| 18Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. | 18His snorting flashes with light, while his eyes are like the rays of dawn. |
| 19Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. | 19Flaming torches shoot from his mouth; fiery sparks fly out! |
| 20Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. | 20Smoke billows from his nostrils as from a boiling pot or burning reeds. |
| 21Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth. | 21His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour out of his mouth. |
| 22Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. | 22Strength resides in his neck, and dismay dances before him. |
| 23The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. | 23The folds of his flesh are joined together, solid as metal and immovable. |
| 24Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. | 24His heart is as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone! |
| 25When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing. | 25When Leviathan rises, the mighty are terrified; they withdraw because of his thrashing. |
| 26The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. | 26The sword that reaches him will have no effect, nor will a spear, dart, or arrow. |
| 27Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. | 27He regards iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. |
| 28Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it. | 28No arrow can make him flee; slingstones become like stubble to him. |
| 29A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. | 29A club is regarded as stubble, and he laughs at the sound of a javelin. |
| 30Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. | 30His undersides are jagged potsherds, spreading the mud like a threshing sledge. |
| 31It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. | 31He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; he makes the sea like an ointment jar. |
| 32It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair. | 32He leaves a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had gray hair! |
| 33Nothing on earth is its equal-- a creature without fear. | 33He has no equal on earth--a creature devoid of fear! |
| 34It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud." | 34He surveys everything that is haughty; he is king over all the proud beasts. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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