Job 39
1 “Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?
Have you knowledge of the rock-goats? or do you see the roes giving birth to their young?
2 Can you count the months they are pregnant? Do you know the time they give birth?
Is the number of their months fixed by you? or is the time when they give birth ordered by you?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young; they deliver their newborn.
They are bent down, they give birth to their young, they let loose the fruit of their body.
4 Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return.
Their young ones are strong, living in the open country; they go out and do not come back again.
5 Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
Who has let the ass of the fields go free? or made loose the bands of the loud-voiced beast?
6 I made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling.
To whom I have given the waste land for a heritage, and the salt land as a living-place.
7 He scorns the tumult of the city and never hears the shouts of a driver.
He makes sport of the noise of the town; the voice of the driver does not come to his ears;
8 He roams the mountains for pasture, searching for any green thing.
He goes looking for his grass-lands in the mountains, searching out every green thing.
9 Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?
Will the ox of the mountains be your servant? or is his night's resting-place by your food-store?
10 Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he plow the valleys behind you?
Will he be pulling your plough with cords, turning up the valleys after you?
11 Can you rely on his great strength? Will you leave your hard work to him?
Will you put your faith in him, because his strength is great? will you give the fruit of your work into his care?
12 Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
Will you be looking for him to come back, and get in your seed to the crushing-floor?
13 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but cannot match the pinions and feathers of the stork.
Is the wing of the ostrich feeble, or is it because she has no feathers,
14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.
That she puts her eggs on the earth, warming them in the dust,
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild animal may trample them.
Without a thought that they may be crushed by the foot, and broken by the beasts of the field?
16 She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain.
She is cruel to her young ones, as if they were not hers; her work is to no purpose; she has no fear.
17 For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding.
For God has taken wisdom from her mind, and given her no measure of knowledge.
18 Yet when she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
When she is shaking her wings on high, she makes sport of the horse and of him who is seated on him.
19 Do you give strength to the horse or adorn his neck with a mane?
Do you give strength to the horse? is it by your hand that his neck is clothed with power?
20 Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?
Is it through you that he is shaking like a locust, in the pride of his loud-sounding breath?
21 He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength; he charges into battle.
He is stamping with joy in the valley; he makes sport of fear.
22 He laughs at fear, frightened of nothing; he does not turn back from the sword.
In his strength he goes out against the arms of war, turning not away from the sword.
23 A quiver rattles at his side, along with a flashing spear and lance.
The bow is sounding against him; he sees the shining point of spear and arrow.
24 Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance; he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.
Shaking with passion, he is biting the earth; he is not able to keep quiet at the sound of the horn;
25 At the blast of the horn, he snorts with fervor. He catches the scent of battle from afar— the shouts of captains and the cry of war.
When it comes to his ears he says, Aha! He is smelling the fight from far off, and hearing the thunder of the captains, and the war-cries.
26 Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?
Is it through your knowledge that the hawk takes his flight, stretching out his wings to the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high?
Or is it by your orders that the eagle goes up, and makes his resting-place on high?
28 He dwells on a cliff and lodges there; his stronghold is on a rocky crag.
On the rock is his house, and on the mountain-top his strong place.
29 From there he spies out food; his eyes see it from afar.
From there he is watching for food; his eye sees it far off.
30 His young ones feast on blood; and where the slain are, there he is.”
His young have blood for their drink, and where the dead bodies are, there is he to be seen.
