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Wisdom & Poetry · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Job 41

Suffering, protest, limited human knowledge, friendship, and encounter with the sovereign God.

Old Testament

Job 41

1“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord?

2Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook?

3Will he make many petitions to you, or will he speak soft words to you?

4Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?

5Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your girls?

6Will traders barter for him? Will they part him among the merchants?

7Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish spears?

8Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more.

9Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Won’t one be cast down even at the sight of him?

10None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?

11Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.

12“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.

13Who can strip off his outer garment? Who will come within his jaws?

14Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror.

15Strong scales are his pride, shut up together with a close seal.

16One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.

17They are joined to one another. They stick together, so that they can’t be pulled apart.

18His sneezing flashes out light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

19Out of his mouth go burning torches. Sparks of fire leap out.

20Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.

21His breath kindles coals. A flame goes out of his mouth.

22There is strength in his neck. Terror dances before him.

23The flakes of his flesh are joined together. They are firm on him. They can’t be moved.

24His heart is as firm as a stone, yes, firm as the lower millstone.

25When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. They retreat before his thrashing.

26If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.

27He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.

28The arrow can’t make him flee. Sling stones are like chaff to him.

29Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin.

30His undersides are like sharp potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.

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

32He makes a path shine after him. One would think the deep had white hair.

33On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear.

34He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.”

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Suffering, protest, limited human knowledge, friendship, and encounter with the sovereign God. Read Job 41 within the complete Job overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Job 41

Job 41 contains 34 verses and about 478 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: ““Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord?” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 34 closes: “He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.”” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include will, like, can’t, make, together, firm. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Job 41

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Job 41:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer