flesh will be needed.[126] The male is destined to offer a
delectable sight to all beholders before he is consumed. When his
last hour arrives, God will summon the angels to enter into
combat with the monster. But no sooner will leviathan cast his
glance at them than they will flee in fear and dismay from the
field of battle. They will return to the charge with swords, but
in vain, for his scales can turn back steel like straw. They will
be equally unsuccessful when they attempt to kill him by throwing
darts and slinging stones; such missiles will rebound without
leaving the least impression on his body. Disheartened, the
angels will give up the combat, and God will command leviathan
and behemot to enter into a duel with each other. The issue will
be that both will drop dead, behemot slaughtered by a blow of
leviathan's fins, and leviathan killed by a lash of behemot's
tail. From the skin of leviathan God will construct tents to
shelter companies of the pious while they enjoy the dishes made
of his flesh. The amount assigned to each of the pious will be in
proportion to his deserts, and none will envy or begrudge the
other his better share. What is left of leviathan's skin will be
stretched out over Jerusalem as a canopy, and the light streaming
from it will illumine the whole world, and what is left of his
flesh after the pious have appeased their appetite, will be
distributed among the rest of men, to carry on traffic
therewith.[127]

On the same day with the fishes, the birds were created, for
these two kinds of animals are closely related to each other.
Fish are fashioned out of water, and birds out of marshy ground
saturated with water.[128]