Job 39
1 “Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?
Knowest thou the season when the Wild Goats of the crags beget? The bringing forth of the hinds, canst thou observe?
2 Can you count the months they are pregnant? Do you know the time they give birth?
Canst thou count the months they fulfil? Or knowest thou the time when they give birth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young; they deliver their newborn.
They kneel down, their young, they bring forth; their pains, they throw off;
4 Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return.
Their young become strong, they grow up in the open field, they go out, and return not unto them.
5 Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
Who hath sent forth the Wild Ass free? And, the bands of the swift-runner, who hath loosed?
6 I made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling.
Whose house I have made the waste plain, and his dwellings, the land of salt:
7 He scorns the tumult of the city and never hears the shouts of a driver.
He laugheth at the throng of the city, The shoutings of the driver, he heareth not;
8 He roams the mountains for pasture, searching for any green thing.
He espieth the mountains, his pasture-ground, and, after every green thing, maketh search.
9 Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?
Will the Wild-Ox be pleased to be thy servant? or lodge for the night by thy crib?
10 Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he plow the valleys behind you?
Canst thou bind the wild-ox, so that—with the ridge—shall run his cord? Or will he harrow the furrows after thee?
11 Can you rely on his great strength? Will you leave your hard work to him?
Wilt thou trust in him, because of the greatness of his strength? Wilt thou leave unto him thy toil?
12 Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
Wilt thou put faith in him, that he will bring back thy seed? and that, corn for thy threshing-floor, he will gather?
13 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but cannot match the pinions and feathers of the stork.
The wing of the Ostrich that waveth itself joyfully, Is it the pinion of lovingkindness or the plumage?
14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.
For she leaveth—to the earth—her eggs, and, on the dust, she letteth them be warmed;
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild animal may trample them.
And hath forgotten, that, a foot, may crush them, —or, the wild beast, tread on them!
16 She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain.
Dealing hardly with her young, as none-of-hers, In vain, her labour, without dread.
17 For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding.
For GOD hath suffered her to forget wisdom, and given her no share in understanding.
18 Yet when she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
What time, on high, she vibrateth her wings, she laugheth at the horse and his rider.
19 Do you give strength to the horse or adorn his neck with a mane?
Couldst thou give—to the Horse—strength? Couldst thou clothe his neck with the quivering mane?
20 Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?
Couldst thou cause him to leap like a locust? The majesty of his snort, is a terror!
21 He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength; he charges into battle.
He diggeth into the plain, and rejoiceth in vigour, he goeth forth to meet armour;
22 He laughs at fear, frightened of nothing; he does not turn back from the sword.
He laugheth at dread, and is not dismayed, neither turneth he back, from the face of the sword;
23 A quiver rattles at his side, along with a flashing spear and lance.
Against him, whiz [the arrows of] the quiver, the flashing head of spear and javelin;
24 Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance; he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.
With stamping and rage, he drinketh up the ground, —he will not stand still when the horn soundeth;
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.
As oft as the horn soundeth, he saith, Aha! And, from afar, he scenteth the battle, —the thunder of commanders and the war-cry.
26 Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?
Is it, by thine understanding, that the Bird of Passage betaketh him to his pinions? spreadeth out his wings to the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high?
Or, at thy bidding, that the Eagle mounteth, and that he setteth on high his nest?
28 He dwells on a cliff and lodges there; his stronghold is on a rocky crag.
The crag, he inhabiteth, and so lodgeth himself, on the tooth of the crag, and high fort;
29 From there he spies out food; his eyes see it from afar.
From thence, he searcheth out food, far away, his eyes do pierce;
30 His young ones feast on blood; and where the slain are, there he is.”
And, his young brood, suck up blood, and, where the slain are, there, is he.
