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:
Whethir thou knowist the tyme of birthe of wielde geet in stoonys, ethir hast thou aspied hyndis bryngynge forth calues?
2 and [if] you has have numbered the full months of their being with young, and [if] you have relieved their pangs:
Hast thou noumbrid the monethis of her conseyuyng, and hast thou knowe the tyme of her caluyng?
3 and have reared their young without fear; and will you loosen their pangs?
Tho ben bowid to the calf, and caluen; and senden out roryngis.
4 Their young will break forth; they will be multiplied with offspring: [their young] will go forth, and will not return to them.
Her calues ben departid, and goen to pasture; tho goen out, and turnen not ayen to `tho hyndis.
5 And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? and who loosed his bands?
Who let go the wielde asse fre, and who loside the boondis of hym?
6 whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts.
To whom Y haue youe an hows in wildirnesse, and the tabernacles of hym in the lond of saltnesse.
7 He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax-gatherer.
He dispisith the multitude of citee; he herith not the cry of an axere.
8 He will survey the mountains [as] his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing.
He lokith aboute the hillis of his lesewe, and he sekith alle greene thingis.
9 And will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or to lie down at your manger?
Whether an vnycorn schal wilne serue thee, ethir schal dwelle at thi cratche?
10 And will you bind his yoke with thongs, or will he plough furrows for you in the plain?
Whether thou schalt bynde the vnicorn with thi chayne, for to ere, ethir schal he breke the clottis of valeis aftir thee?
11 And do you trust him, because his strength is great? and will you commit your works to him?
Whether thou schalt haue trist in his grete strengthe, and schalt thou leeue to hym thi traueils?
12 And will you believe that he will return to you your seed, and bring [it] in [to] your threshing floor?
Whether thou schalt bileue to hym, that he schal yelde seed to thee, and schal gadere togidere thi cornfloor?
13 The peacock has a beautiful wing: if the stork and the ostrich conceive, [it is worthy of notice],
The fethere of an ostriche is lijk the fetheris of a gerfawcun, and of an hauk;
14 for [the ostrich] will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on the dust,
which ostrige forsakith hise eirun in the erthe, in hap thou schalt make tho hoot in the dust.
15 and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them.
He foryetith, that a foot tredith tho, ethir that a beeste of the feeld al tobrekith tho.
16 She has hardened [herself] against her young ones, as though [she bereaved] not herself: she labours in vain without fear.
He is maad hard to hise briddis, as if thei ben not hise; he traueilide in veyn, while no drede constreynede.
17 For God has withholden wisdom from her, and not given her a portion in understanding.
For God hath priued hym fro wisdom, and `yaf not vnderstondyng to hym.
18 In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider.
Whanne tyme is, he reisith the wengis an hiy; he scorneth the hors, and his ridere.
19 Hast you invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror?
Whether thou schalt yyue strengthe to an hors, ether schal yyue neiyng `aboute his necke?
20 And have you clad him in perfect armour, and made his breast glorious with courage?
Whether thou schalt reyse hym as locustis? The glorie of hise nosethirlis is drede.
21 He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain.
He diggith erthe with the foot, he `fulli ioieth booldli; he goith ayens armed men.
22 He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword.
He dispisith ferdfulnesse, and he yyueth not stide to swerd.
23 The bow and sword resound against him; and [his] rage will swallow up the ground:
An arowe caas schal sowne on hym; a spere and scheeld schal florische.
24 and he will not believe until the trumpet sounds.
He is hoot, and gnastith, and swolewith the erthe; and he arettith not that the crie of the trumpe sowneth.
25 And when the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! and afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing.
Whanne he herith a clarioun, he `seith, Joie! he smellith batel afer; the excityng of duykis, and the yellyng of the oost.
26 And does the hawk remain steady by your wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking towards the region of the south?
Whether an hauk spredinge abrood hise wyngis to the south, bigynneth to haue fetheris bi thi wisdom?
27 And does the eagle rise at your command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest,
Whether an egle schal be reisid at thi comaundement, and schal sette his nest in hiy places?
28 on a crag of a rock, and in a secret [place]?
He dwellith in stoonys, and he dwellith in flyntis brokun bifor, and in rochis, to whiche `me may not neiye.
29 Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far.
Fro thennus he biholdith mete, and hise iyen loken fro fer.
30 And his young ones roll themselves in blood, and wherever the carcasses may be, immediately they are found.
Hise briddis souken blood, and where euere a careyn is, anoon he is present.
