< Job 39 >
1 [Say] if you know the time of the bringing forth of the wild goats of the rock, and [if] you have marked the calving of the hinds:
Knowest thou the season when the Wild Goats of the crags beget? The bringing forth of the hinds, canst thou observe?
2 and [if] you has have numbered the full months of their being with young, and [if] you have relieved their pangs:
Canst thou count the months they fulfil? Or knowest thou the time when they give birth?
3 and have reared their young without fear; and will you loosen their pangs?
They kneel down, their young, they bring forth; their pains, they throw off;
4 Their young will break forth; they will be multiplied with offspring: [their young] will go forth, and will not return to them.
Their young become strong, they grow up in the open field, they go out, and return not unto them.
5 And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? and who loosed his bands?
Who hath sent forth the Wild Ass free? And, the bands of the swift-runner, who hath loosed?
6 whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts.
Whose house I have made the waste plain, and his dwellings, the land of salt:
7 He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax-gatherer.
He laugheth at the throng of the city, The shoutings of the driver, he heareth not;
8 He will survey the mountains [as] his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing.
He espieth the mountains, his pasture-ground, and, after every green thing, maketh search.
9 And will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or to lie down at your manger?
Will the Wild-Ox be pleased to be thy servant? or lodge for the night by thy crib?
10 And will you bind his yoke with thongs, or will he plough furrows for you in the plain?
Canst thou bind the wild-ox, so that—with the ridge—shall run his cord? Or will he harrow the furrows after thee?
11 And do you trust him, because his strength is great? and will you commit your works to him?
Wilt thou trust in him, because of the greatness of his strength? Wilt thou leave unto him thy toil?
12 And will you believe that he will return to you your seed, and bring [it] in [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 peacock has a beautiful wing: if the stork and the ostrich conceive, [it is worthy of notice],
The wing of the Ostrich that waveth itself joyfully, Is it the pinion of lovingkindness or the plumage?
14 for [the ostrich] will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on the dust,
For she leaveth—to the earth—her eggs, and, on the dust, she letteth them be warmed;
15 and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them.
And hath forgotten, that, a foot, may crush them, —or, the wild beast, tread on them!
16 She has hardened [herself] against her young ones, as though [she bereaved] not herself: she labours in vain without fear.
Dealing hardly with her young, as none-of-hers, In vain, her labour, without dread.
17 For God has withholden wisdom from her, and not given her a portion in understanding.
For GOD hath suffered her to forget wisdom, and given her no share in understanding.
18 In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider.
What time, on high, she vibrateth her wings, she laugheth at the horse and his rider.
19 Hast you invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror?
Couldst thou give—to the Horse—strength? Couldst thou clothe his neck with the quivering mane?
20 And have you clad him in perfect armour, and made his breast glorious with courage?
Couldst thou cause him to leap like a locust? The majesty of his snort, is a terror!
21 He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain.
He diggeth into the plain, and rejoiceth in vigour, he goeth forth to meet armour;
22 He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword.
He laugheth at dread, and is not dismayed, neither turneth he back, from the face of the sword;
23 The bow and sword resound against him; and [his] rage will swallow up the ground:
Against him, whiz [the arrows of] the quiver, the flashing head of spear and javelin;
24 and he will not believe until the trumpet sounds.
With stamping and rage, he drinketh up the ground, —he will not stand still when the horn soundeth;
25 And when the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! and afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing.
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 And does the hawk remain steady by your wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking towards the region of 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 And does the eagle rise at your command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest,
Or, at thy bidding, that the Eagle mounteth, and that he setteth on high his nest?
28 on a crag of a rock, and in a secret [place]?
The crag, he inhabiteth, and so lodgeth himself, on the tooth of the crag, and high fort;
29 Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far.
From thence, he searcheth out food, far away, his eyes do pierce;
30 And his young ones roll themselves in blood, and wherever the carcasses may be, immediately they are found.
And, his young brood, suck up blood, and, where the slain are, there, is he.