| 1 - Non c'è audace che voglia eccitarlo, perchè chi può resistere alla presenza sua? | 1 "Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down his tongue with a cord? |
| 2 Chi ha dato a me prima, onde io a lui restituisca? tutte le cose che stanno sotto al cielo, son mie! | 2 Can you put a rope in his nose, or pierce his jaw with a hook? |
| 3 Non voglio tacere circa le sue membra, e circa la forza e bellezza di sua armatura. | 3 Will he make many supplications to you? Will he speak to you soft words? |
| 4 Chi ha scoperto il disopra del suo manto, e in mezzo alla sua bocca chi è penetrato? | 4 Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant for ever? |
| 5 Le porte del suo muso chi mai le ha aperte? attorno alle sue zanne dimora il terrore. | 5 Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on leash for your maidens? |
| 6 Il suo corpo è come di scudi fusi insieme, composto di squame che combaciano: | 6 Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? |
| 7 l'una con l'altra è congiunta, neppure un soffio passa tra loro; | 7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons, or his head with fishing spears? |
| 8 l'una all'altra aderisce, e si tengono in guisa da non separarsi. | 8 Lay hands on him; think of the battle; you will not do it again! |
| 9 Il suo starnuto è uno splendor di fuoco, e gli occhi suoi come le ciglia dell'aurora; | 9 Behold, the hope of a man is disappointed; he is laid low even at the sight of him. |
| 10 dalla sua bocca escono faci, come fiaccole di vivo fuoco; | 10 No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he that can stand before me? |
| 11 dalle sue froge vien fuori fumo, come da caldaio acceso e bollente: | 11 Who has given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. |
| 12 il suo soffio accende tizzoni, ed una vampa dalla sua bocca esce. | 12 "I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. |
| 13 Nel suo collo risiede la forza, dinanzi a lui precede la squallidezza. | 13 Who can strip off his outer garment? Who can penetrate his double coat of mail? |
| 14 Le membra delle sue carni sono compatte: lanciandosi contro esso fulmini, non si volgono altrove. | 14 Who can open the doors of his face? Round about his teeth is terror. |
| 15 Il suo cuore è duro come pietra, e saldo come l'incudine del fucinatore. | 15 His back is made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal. |
| 16 Quand'esso si rizza ne temono gli angeli, e sbigottiti si discolpano. | 16 One is so near to another that no air can come between them. |
| 17 La spada che lo assale non resiste, nè la lancia, nè la corazza. | 17 They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated. |
| 18 Reputa egli come paglia di ferro, come legno putrido il bronzo. | 18 His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. |
| 19 Non lo mette in fuga l'arciere, in stoppa si cambiano per lui le pietre di fionda. | 19 Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. |
| 20 Come stoppa egli reputa la mazza, della lancia imbrandita esso si burla. | 20 Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. |
| 21 Sotto di lui vi sono raggi di sole, egli giace sull'orlo come fosse fango. | 21 His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth. |
| 22 Fa bollire come caldaia il profondo mare, lo riduce come a un [vaso d']unguento che spuma; | 22 In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him. |
| 23 dietro a lui risplende il sentiero, si crederebbe che l'abisso sia canuto. | 23 The folds of his flesh cleave together, firmly cast upon him and immovable. |
| 24 Non v'è sulla terra una forza somigliante a lui, che fu fatto per non temer nessuno; | 24 His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the nether millstone. |
| 25 ogni essere eccelso egli mira [con disprezzo], è re su tutti i figli di fierezza.» | 25 When he raises himself up the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves. |
| 26 Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail; nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. |
| 27 He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. |
| 28 The arrow cannot make him flee; for him slingstones are turned to stubble. |
| 29 Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of javelins. |
| 30 His underparts are like sharp potsherds; he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire. |
| 31 He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. |
| 32 Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be hoary. |
| 33 Upon earth there is not his like, a creature without fear. |
| 34 He beholds everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride." |
