It is in mercy that I forbear to make him a plague for mankind. But indeed, there is no resisting me,

I WILL not stir him up, like one that is cruel: for who can resist my countenance?

Non quasi crudelis suscitabo eum: quis enim resistere potest vultui meo?

nor can any deserve my thanks by lending me the aid I lacked; nothing on earth but is at my disposal.

Who hath given me before that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine.

Quis ante dedit mihi, ut reddam ei? omnia quæ sub cælo sunt, mea sunt.

I give him no quarter, for all his boastful, all his flattering words.

I will not spare him, nor his mighty words, and framed to make supplication.

Non parcam ei, et verbis potentibus, et ad deprecandum compositis.

Who can strip the skin of him, who can penetrate into the cavern of his mouth,

Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can go into the midst of his mouth?

Quis revelabit faciem indumenti ejus? et in medium oris ejus quis intrabit?

forcing the gates that guard it, the terrors of his teeth?

Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.

Portas vultus ejus quis aperiet? per gyrum dentium ejus formido.

The body of him is like shields of cast metal, scale pressing on scale,

His body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales pressing upon one another.

Corpus illius quasi scuta fusilia, compactum squamis se prementibus.

so close to one another as to leave no vent between;

One is joined to another, and not so much as any air can come between them:

Una uni conjungitur, et ne spiraculum quidem incedit per eas.

so well joined that nothing will part them.

They stick one to another and they hold one another fast, and shall not be separated.

Una alteri adhærebit, et tenentes se nequaquam separabuntur.

Let him but sneeze, the fire flashes out; let him open his eyes, it is like the glimmer of dawn;

His sneezing is like the shining of fire, and his eyes like the eyelids of the morning.

Sternutatio ejus splendor ignis, et oculi ejus ut palpebræ diluculi.

flames come from his jaws, bright as a burning torch,

Out of his mouth go forth lamps, like torches of lighted fire.

De ore ejus lampades procedunt, sicut tædæ ignis accensæ.

smoke from his nostrils, thick as the fumes of a seething pot;

Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, like that of a pot heated and boiling.

De naribus ejus procedit fumus, sicut ollæ succensæ atque ferventis.

his very breath will set coals aflame, such fire issues from that mouth.

His breath kindleth coals, and a flame cometh forth out of his mouth.

Halitus ejus prunas ardere facit, et flamma de ore ejus egreditur.

What strength dwells in that neck of his, what terrors play about him!

In his neck strength shall dwell, and want goeth before his face.

In collo ejus morabitur fortitudo, et faciem ejus præcedit egestas.

Firm-set are the folds of his flesh, unyielding though a thunder-bolt should strike them;

The members of his flesh cleave one to another: he shall send lightnings against him, and they shall not be carried to another place.

Membra carnium ejus cohærentia sibi: mittet contra eum fulmina, et ad locum alium non ferentur.

firm-set, too, is the heart of him, firm as ever stone was, or smith’s anvil.

His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a smith’s anvil.

Cor ejus indurabitur tamquam lapis, et stringetur quasi malleatoris incus.

Rises he up, angels themselves are afraid, and take sanctuary in their dread.

When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and being affrighted shall purify themselves.

Cum sublatus fuerit, timebunt angeli, et territi purgabuntur.

Sword-thrust, nor spear, nor breast-plate can hold their own against him;

When a sword shall lay at him, it shall not be able to hold, nor a spear, nor a breastplate.

Cum apprehenderit eum gladius, subsistere non poterit, neque hasta, neque thorax:

to him, steel is but chaff, bronze but touch-wood,

For he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.

reputabit enim quasi paleas ferrum, et quasi lignum putridum æs.

nor fears he the archer; sling-stones he counts as straw,

The archer shall not put him to flight, the stones of the sling are to him like stubble.

Non fugabit eum vir sagittarius: in stipulam versi sunt ei lapides fundæ.

as straw the hammer-blow, laughs at the brandished spear.

As stubble will he esteem the hammer, and he will laugh him to scorn who shaketh the spear.

Quasi stipulam æstimabit malleum, et deridebit vibrantem hastam.

Sunlight flashes beneath him as he goes, a path of gold through the slime;

The beams of the sun shall be under him, and he shall strew gold under him like mire.

Sub ipso erunt radii solis, et sternet sibi aurum quasi lutum.

he makes the deep sea boil like a pot where ointment simmers;

He shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot, and shall make it as when ointments boil.

Fervescere faciet quasi ollam profundum mare, et ponet quasi cum unguenta bulliunt.

how it shines in his wake, as though ocean itself had grown hoary with age!

A path shall shine after him, he shall esteem the deep as growing old.

Post eum lucebit semita: æstimabit abyssum quasi senescentem.

He has not his like among the strong things of earth, that fearless nature,

There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him who was made to fear no one.

Non est super terram potestas quæ comparetur ei, qui factus est ut nullum timeret.

that heaven-confronting eye. Over all the pride of earth he reigns supreme.

He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the children of pride.

Omne sublime videt: ipse est rex super universos filios superbiæ.