Job - The Old Testament

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.