Job 39
1 “Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?
Knowest thou the time when the chamois of the rock bring forth? or markest thou when the hinds do calve?
2 Can you count the months they are pregnant? Do you know the time they give birth?
Numberest thou the months of gestation which they complete and knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young; they deliver their newborn.
They bend themselves: they drop their young ones; throw off their pains.
4 Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return.
Their little ones become strong; they grow up in the open field; they go forth, and return not unto them.
5 Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
Who sent out the wild ass free? or who loosened the bonds of the forest-ass?
6 I made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling.
To whom I assigned the wilderness as his house, and the salty land as his dwellings.
7 He scorns the tumult of the city and never hears the shouts of a driver.
He laugheth at the noise of a town, and the shoutings of the driver he heareth not.
8 He roams the mountains for pasture, searching for any green thing.
What he espieth on the mountains is his pasture, and after every green thing doth he search.
9 Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?
Will the forest-ox be willing to serve thee, or will he stay over night at thy crib?
10 Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he plow the valleys behind you?
Canst thou bind the forest-ox with a rope [to labor] in the furrow? or will he harrow valleys, following after thee?
11 Can you rely on his great strength? Will you leave your hard work to him?
Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou leave to him thy labor?
12 Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
Wilt thou confide in him, that he should bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy threshing-floor?—
13 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but cannot match the pinions and feathers of the stork.
The wing of the ostrich moveth joyfully: hath she the pinions and plumage of the careful stork?
14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.
[No, ] for she intrusteth her eggs to the earth, and letteth them be hatched out on the dust:
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild animal may trample them.
And she forgetteth that a foot may crush them, or that the beast of the field may stamp them down.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain.
He hath made her callous against her young, as though they were not hers: her labor is in vain, [but she feeleth] no dread;
17 For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding.
Because God hath denied her wisdom, and he hath not imparted to her understanding.
18 Yet when she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
At the time she raiseth herself up on high, she laugheth at the horse and his rider.
19 Do you give strength to the horse or adorn his neck with a mane?
Dost thou give the horse strength? dost thou clothe his neck with the rolling mane?
20 Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?
Canst thou make him jump like a locust? his majestic snort is terrible.
21 He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength; he charges into battle.
Men spy about in the valley, and he rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth forth to meet the armed array.
22 He laughs at fear, frightened of nothing; he does not turn back from the sword.
He laugheth at fear, and is not dismayed; and turneth not back from before the sword.
23 A quiver rattles at his side, along with a flashing spear and lance.
Over him rattle the quiver, the glittering spear and the lance.
24 Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance; he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.
With impatient noise and rage he holloweth [with his hoof] the ground, and keepeth not quiet when the cornet's voice [is heard].
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.
Midst the sound of the cornet he uttereth his joyful neigh; and from afar he perceiveth the battle, the loud call of the captains, and the battle-cry.—
26 Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?
Is it through thy understanding that the hawk flieth along, and spreadeth out his wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high?
Or is it by your order that the eagle doth mount upward, and buildeth high up his nest?
28 He dwells on a cliff and lodges there; his stronghold is on a rocky crag.
On a rock he dwelleth, and spendeth his nights, on a rocky crag and mountain fastness.
29 From there he spies out food; his eyes see it from afar.
From there he espieth his food, from afar can his eyes behold.
30 His young ones feast on blood; and where the slain are, there he is.”
His young ones, also, sip up blood: and where the slain be, there is he.
