Job 39
1 “Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?
“Have you known the time of The bearing of the wild goats of the rock? Do you mark the bringing forth of does?
2 Can you count the months they are pregnant? Do you know the time they give birth?
Do you number the months they fulfill? And have you known the time of their bringing forth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young; they deliver their newborn.
They bow down, They bring forth their young ones safely, They cast forth their pangs.
4 Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return.
Their young ones are safe, They grow up in the field, they have gone out, And have not returned to them.
5 Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
Who has sent forth the wild donkey free? Indeed, who opened the bands of the wild donkey?
6 I made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling.
Whose house I have made the wilderness, And his dwellings the barren land,
7 He scorns the tumult of the city and never hears the shouts of a driver.
He laughs at the multitude of a city, He does not hear the cries of an exactor.
8 He roams the mountains for pasture, searching for any green thing.
The range of mountains [is] his pasture, And he seeks after every green thing.
9 Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?
Is a wild ox willing to serve you? Does he lodge by your crib?
10 Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he plow the valleys behind you?
Do you bind a wild ox in a furrow [with] his thick band? Does he harrow valleys after you?
11 Can you rely on his great strength? Will you leave your hard work to him?
Do you trust in him because his power [is] great? And do you leave your labor to him?
12 Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
Do you trust in him That he brings back your seed, And gathers [it to] your threshing-floor?
13 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but cannot match the pinions and feathers of the stork.
[The] wing of the crying ostriches exults, but as a pinion and feather of a stork?
14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.
For she leaves her eggs on the earth, And she warms them on the dust,
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild animal may trample them.
And she forgets that a foot may press it, And a beast of the field treads it down.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain.
It has hardened her young ones without her, Her labor [is] in vain, without fear.
17 For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding.
For God has caused her to forget wisdom, And He has not given a portion To her in understanding;
18 Yet when she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
At the time she lifts herself up on high, She laughs at the horse and his rider.
19 Do you give strength to the horse or adorn his neck with a mane?
Do you give might to the horse? Do you clothe his neck [with] a mane?
20 Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?
Do you cause him to rush as a locust? The splendor of his snorting [is] terrible.
21 He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength; he charges into battle.
They dig in a valley, and he rejoices in power, He goes forth to meet the armor.
22 He laughs at fear, frightened of nothing; he does not turn back from the sword.
He laughs at fear, and is not frightened, And he does not turn back from the face of the sword.
23 A quiver rattles at his side, along with a flashing spear and lance.
Quiver rattles against him, The flame of a spear, and a javelin.
24 Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance; he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.
He swallows the ground with trembling and rage, And does not remain steadfast Because of the sound of a 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.
Among the horns he says, Aha, And from afar he smells battle, Roaring of princes and shouting.
26 Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?
By your understanding does a hawk fly? Does he spread his wings to the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high?
At your command does an eagle go up high? Or lift up his nest?
28 He dwells on a cliff and lodges there; his stronghold is on a rocky crag.
He inhabits a rock, Indeed, he lodges on the tooth of a rock, and fortress.
29 From there he spies out food; his eyes see it from afar.
From there he has sought food, His eyes look attentively to a far-off place,
30 His young ones feast on blood; and where the slain are, there he is.”
And his brood sucks up blood, And where the pierced [are]—there [is] he!”
