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Yahweh challenged Job to try to capture a crocodile
1 “Think also about ◄crocodiles/great sea dragons►.
Can you catch them with a fishhook
or fasten their jaws with a rope?
2 Can you put ropes through their noses to control them
or thrust hooks through their jaws?
3 Will they plead with you to act mercifully toward them
or ◄use sweet talk/speak to you nicely► in order that you will not harm them?
4 Will they make an agreement with you to work for you,
to be your slaves as long as they live?
5 Can you cause them to become pets like you cause birds to become your pets?
Can you put a leash/rope around their necks so that your servant girls can play with them?
6 Will merchants try to buy them in the market?
Will they cut them up into pieces and sell the meat?
7 Can you pierce their skins by throwing fishing spears at them?
Can you pierce their heads with a harpoon?
8 If you grab one of them with your hands, it will fight you in a way that you will never forget,
and you will never try to do it again!
9 It is useless to try to subdue them.
Anyone who tries to subdue one of them will lose his courage.
10 No one dares/tries to ◄arouse them/cause them to be angry►.
So, since I am much more powerful than they are, ◄who would dare to cause me to be angry?/no one would dare to cause me to be angry!► [RHQ]
11 Also, everything on the earth is mine.
Therefore, no one [RHQ] is able to give anything to me and require me to pay money for it!
12 I will tell you about how strong crocodiles' legs are
and how strong their well-formed bodies are.
13 ◄Can anyone strip off their hides?/No one is able to strip off their hides.► [RHQ]
◄Can anyone try to put bridles on them?/No one can try to put bridles on them.► [RHQ] (OR, Can anyone pierce their very thick hides?)
14 ◄Can anyone pry open their jaws, which have terrible teeth in them?/No one can pry open their jaws, which have terrible teeth in them!► [RHQ]
15 They have rows of scales on their back
which are as hard as a rock (OR, tightly fastened together).
16 The scales are very close together,
with the result that not even air can get between them.
17 The scales are joined very closely to each other,
and they cannot be separated.
18 When crocodiles sneeze, the tiny drops of water that come out of their noses sparkle in the sunlight.
Their eyes are red like the rising sun.
19 It is as though sparks of fire pour out of their mouths [DOU].
20 Smoke pours out of their nostrils/noses
like steam comes out of a pot that is put over a fire made from dry reeds.
21 Their breath can cause coals to blaze,
and flames shoot out from their mouths.
22 Their necks are very strong;
wherever they go, they cause people to be very afraid.
23 The folds in their flesh are very close together
and are very hard/firm.
24 They are fearless, because
the inner parts of their bodies are as hard as a rock,
as hard as the lower millstone on which grain is ground.
25 When they rise up, they cause even very strong people to be terrified.
As a result, people ◄fall back/run away► when crocodiles thrash around.
26 People [PRS] cannot injure them with swords,
and spears or darts or javelins cannot injure them, either.
27 They certainly are not afraid of weapons made of straw or rotten wood,
but they are not even afraid of weapons made of iron or bronze!
28 Shooting arrows at them does not cause them to run away.
Hurling stones at them from a sling is like hurling bits of chaff at them.
29 They are not afraid of clubs any more than they would be afraid of men throwing bits of straw at them,
and they laugh when they hear the whirl/sound of javelins being thrown at them .
30 Their bellies are covered with scales that are as sharp as broken pieces of pottery.
When they drag themselves through the mud,
their bellies tear up the ground like a plow.
31 They stir up the water and cause it to foam
as they churn/swim through it.
32 As they go through the water, the ◄wakes/trails in the water behind them► glisten.
People who see it would think that the foam in those wakes had become white hair.
33 There are no creatures on earth that are as fearless as crocodiles.
34 They are the proudest of all the creatures;
it is as though they rule like kings over all the other wild animals.”