Job 39
1 Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched the birth-pains of the deer?
Do thou know the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or can thou mark when the hinds do calve?
2 Do you know how many months they carry their young? Do you know the time when they give birth?
Can thou number the months that they fulfill? Or do thou know the time when they bring forth?
3 They crouch down in labor to deliver their offspring.
They bow themselves. They bring forth their young. They cast out their pains.
4 Their young grow strong in the open countryside; they leave and never return.
Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go forth, and return not again.
5 Who gave the wild donkey its freedom? Who set it free from its bonds?
Who has sent out the wild donkey free? Or who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey
6 I have given it the wilderness as its home, the salt plains as a place to live.
whose home I have made the wilderness, and the salt land his dwelling-place?
7 It despises the noise of the city; it doesn't need to listen to the shouts of a driver.
He scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shoutings of the driver.
8 It hunts in the mountains for pastureland, searching for all kinds of green plants to eat.
The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searches after every green thing.
9 Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your manger?
Will the wild-ox be content to serve thee? Or will he abide by thy crib?
10 Can you tie a wild ox to a plow? Can you make it till your fields for you?
Can thou bind the wild-ox with his band in the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
11 Because it's so powerful can you trust it? Can you depend on it to do your heavy work for you?
Will thou trust him because his strength is great? Or will thou leave to him thy labor?
12 Are you sure it will gather your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
Will thou confide in him that he will bring home thy seed, and gather the grain of thy threshing-floor?
13 The ostrich proudly flaps her wings, but they are nothing like the flight feathers of the stork.
The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love?
14 The ostrich abandons her eggs on the ground, leaving them to be warmed in the dust.
For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and warms them in the dust.
15 She doesn't think that they can be crushed underfoot, trampled by a wild animal.
And she forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may trample them.
16 She is tough towards her young, acting as if they didn't belong to her. She doesn't care that all her work was for nothing.
She deals hardly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor be in vain, she is without fear,
17 For I, God, made her forget wisdom—she didn't get her share of intelligence.
because God has deprived her of wisdom, nor has he imparted understanding to her.
18 But when she needs to, she can jump up and run, mocking a horse and its rider with her speed.
The time she lifts up herself on high she scorns the horse and his rider.
19 Did you give the horse its strength? Did you place a mane upon its neck?
Have thou given the horse his might? Have thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane?
20 Did you make it able to jump like a locust? Its loud snorting is terrifying!
Have thou made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.
21 It paws at the ground, rearing up with power as it charges into battle.
He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men.
22 It laughs at fear; it is not frightened at all.
He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed. Neither does he turn back from the sword.
23 The quiver full of arrows rattles against it; the spear and the javelin flash in the sunlight.
The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin.
24 Shaking with rage it gallops across the ground; it cannot remain still when the trumpet sounds.
He swallows the ground with fierceness and rage, nor does he believe that it is the voice of the trumpet.
25 Whenever the trumpet calls, it is ready; he senses the sound of battle from far away, he hears the commanders shouting.
As often as the trumpet sounds he says, Aha! And he smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 Is it through your wisdom that the hawk soars, spreading its wings towards the south?
Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south?
27 Do you command the eagle to fly high and make its nest in the summits of the mountains?
Is it at thy command that the eagle mounts up, and makes her nest on high?
28 It lives among the cliffs, and roosts on a remote rocky crag.
She dwells on the cliff, and makes her home upon the point of the cliff and the stronghold.
29 From there it spies its prey from far away, fixing its gaze on its victim. Its chicks eagerly swallow blood.
From there she spies out the prey. Her eyes behold it afar off.
30 Where the carcasses are, that's where birds of prey are found.”
Her young ones also suck up blood. And where the slain are, there is she.
