70 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
70 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 41
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1 “Can you catch Leviathan with a hook
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or put a noose around its jaw?
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2 Can you tie it with a rope through the nose
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or pierce its jaw with a spike?
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3 Will it beg you for mercy
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or implore you for pity?
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4 Will it agree to work for you,
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to be your slave for life?
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5 Can you make it a pet like a bird,
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or give it to your little girls to play with?
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6 Will merchants try to buy it
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to sell it in their shops?
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7 Will its hide be hurt by spears
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or its head by a harpoon?
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8 If you lay a hand on it,
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you will certainly remember the battle that follows.
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You won’t try that again!
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9 No, it is useless to try to capture it.
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The hunter who attempts it will be knocked down.
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10 And since no one dares to disturb it,
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who then can stand up to me?
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11 Who has given me anything that I need to pay back?
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Everything under heaven is mine.
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12 “I want to emphasize Leviathan’s limbs
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and its enormous strength and graceful form.
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13 Who can strip off its hide,
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and who can penetrate its double layer of armor?
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14 Who could pry open its jaws?
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For its teeth are terrible!
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15 The scales on its back are like rows of shields
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tightly sealed together.
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16 They are so close together
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that no air can get between them.
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17 Each scale sticks tight to the next.
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They interlock and cannot be penetrated.
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18 “When it sneezes, it flashes light!
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Its eyes are like the red of dawn.
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19 Lightning leaps from its mouth;
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flames of fire flash out.
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20 Smoke streams from its nostrils
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like steam from a pot heated over burning rushes.
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21 Its breath would kindle coals,
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for flames shoot from its mouth.
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22 “The tremendous strength in Leviathan’s neck
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strikes terror wherever it goes.
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23 Its flesh is hard and firm
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and cannot be penetrated.
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24 Its heart is hard as rock,
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hard as a millstone.
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25 When it rises, the mighty are afraid,
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gripped by terror.
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26 No sword can stop it,
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no spear, dart, or javelin.
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27 Iron is nothing but straw to that creature,
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and bronze is like rotten wood.
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28 Arrows cannot make it flee.
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Stones shot from a sling are like bits of grass.
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29 Clubs are like a blade of grass,
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and it laughs at the swish of javelins.
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30 Its belly is covered with scales as sharp as glass.
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It plows up the ground as it drags through the mud.
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31 “Leviathan makes the water boil with its commotion.
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It stirs the depths like a pot of ointment.
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32 The water glistens in its wake,
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making the sea look white.
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33 Nothing on earth is its equal,
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no other creature so fearless.
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34 Of all the creatures, it is the proudest.
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It is the king of beasts.” |