Job, 41

1. Any hope you might have would be futile, the mere sight of him would overwhelm you.

2. When roused, he grows ferocious, who could ever stand up to him?

3. Who has ever attacked him with impunity? No one beneath all heaven!

4. Next I will talk of his limbs and describe his matchless strength-

5. who can undo the front of his tunic or pierce the double armour of his breastplate?

6. Who dare open the gates of his mouth? Terror reigns round his teeth!

7. His back is like rows of shields, sealed with a stone seal,

8. touching each other so close that no breath could pass between,

9. sticking to one another making an impervious whole.

10. His sneezes radiate light, his eyes are like the eyelashes of the dawn.

11. From his mouth come fiery torches, sparks of fire fly out of it.

12. His nostrils belch smoke like a cauldron boiling on the fire.

13. His breath could kindle coals, flame issues from his mouth.

14. His strength resides in his neck, violence leaps before him as he goes.

15. The strips of his flesh are jointed together, firmly set in and immovable.

16. His heart is as hard as rock unyielding as the lower millstone.

17. When he stands up, the waves take fright and the billows of the sea retreat.

18. Sword may strike but will not stick in him, no more will spear, javelin or lance.

19. Iron means no more to him than straw, nor bronze than rotten wood.

20. No arrow can make him flee, a sling-stone tickles him like hay.

21. Club seems to him like straw, he laughs at the whirring javelin.

22. He has sharp potsherds underneath, and moves across the slime like a harrow.

23. He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron, he makes the sea fume like a scent burner.

24. Behind him he leaves a glittering wake -- a white fleece seems to float on the deeps.

25. He has no equal on earth, being created without fear.

26. He looks the haughtiest in the eye; of all the lordly beasts he is king.