Read the Bible

¹ Can you catch a sea monster^[a]
    by using a fishhook?
Can you tie its mouth shut
    with a rope?
² Can it be led around
by a ring in its nose
    or a hook in its jaw?
³ Will it beg for mercy?
⁴ Will it surrender
    as a slave for life?
⁵ Can it be tied by the leg
like a pet bird
    for little girls?
⁶ Is it ever chopped up
and its pieces bargained for
    in the fish-market?
⁷ Can it be killed
    with harpoons or spears?
⁸ Wrestle it just once—
    that will be the end.
⁹ Merely a glimpse of this monster
    makes all courage melt.
¹⁰ And if it is too fierce
for anyone to attack,
    who would dare oppose me?
¹¹ I am in command of the world
    and in debt to no one.

¹² What powerful legs,
what a stout body
    this monster possesses!
¹³ Who could strip off its armor
or bring it under control
    with a harness?
¹⁴ Who would try to open its jaws,
    full of fearsome teeth?
¹⁵ Its back^[b] is covered
    with shield after shield,
¹⁶ firmly bound and closer together
¹⁷     than breath to breath.

¹⁸ When this monster sneezes,
lightning flashes,
and its eyes
    glow like the dawn.
¹⁹ Sparks and fiery flames
    explode from its mouth.
²⁰ And smoke spews from its nose
like steam
    from a boiling pot,
²¹ while its blazing breath
    scorches everything in sight.

²² Its neck is so tremendous
    that everyone trembles,
²³ the weakest parts of its body
are harder than iron,
²⁴     and its heart is stone.
²⁵ When this noisy monster appears,
even the most powerful^[c]
    turn and run in fear.
²⁶ No sword or spear can harm it,
²⁷ and weapons of bronze or iron
    are as useless
as straw
    or rotten wood.
²⁸ Rocks thrown from a sling
cause it no more harm
    than husks of grain.
This monster fears no arrows,
²⁹     it simply smiles at spears,
and striking it with a stick
is like slapping it with straw.

³⁰ As it crawls through the mud,
its sharp and spiny hide
    tears the ground apart.
³¹ And when it swims down deep,
the sea starts churning
    like boiling oil,
³² and it leaves behind a trail
    of shining white foam.
³³ No other creature on earth
    is so fearless.
³⁴ It is king of all proud creatures,
and it looks upon the others
    as nothing.