1Any hope of subduing him is vain, for
the mere sight of him is over powering.
2He grows so ferocious when aroused
that no one dares face him.
3Who has attacked him and come off unharmed?
No one under the sky.
4I need hardly mention his limbs, nor
describe his matchless strength.
5Who can strip off his outer garment
and penetrate his double breastplate?
6Who can dare open the gates of his mouth
to confront the terrors of his rows of teeth?
7Rows of scales are on his back –
rows of shields that are tightly sealed.
8So closely fitted are they
that no space intervenes;
9so closely joined
that they hold fast and cannot be parted.
10Light flashes forth when he sneezes;
like the light of dawn are his eyes.
11Flaming torches and sparks of fire flash from his mouth.
12Smoke comes from his nostrils,
like hot steam from a boiling pot.
13His mere breath sets coals afire,
with the flame pouring from his mouth.
14Strength is in his neck,
and terror dances before him.
15Tightly set are the folds of his flesh,
firmly cast and immovable.
16His heart is hard as stone,
as hard as the lower millstone.
17When he rises up, the mighty are terrified,
the waves of the sea fall back.
18Should the sword reach him, it will not pierce him,
nor will the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
19Iron is to him no more than straw;
and bronze, no more than rotten wood.
20Arrows will not put him to flight;
slingstones will be as wisps of hay.
21Clubs are as splinters to him;
he laughs at the whirring javelin.
22His belly is as sharp as pottery sherds;
he moves across the mire like a harrow.
23He churns the depths into a seething caldron;
he makes the sea fume like a burner.
24Behind him he leaves a white gleaming wake,
making the deep appear a hoary head of age.
25He has no equal on earth:
such a horrible creature he was made!
26He makes all, however lofty, afraid;
he is king over all proud beasts.
