Job 39
1 Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched the birth-pains of the deer?
Hast thou known the time of The bearing of the wild goats of the rock? The bringing forth of hinds thou dost mark!
2 Do you know how many months they carry their young? Do you know the time when they give birth?
Thou dost number the months they fulfil? And thou hast known the time of their bringing forth!
3 They crouch down in labor to deliver their offspring.
They bow down, Their young ones they bring forth safely, Their pangs they cast forth.
4 Their young grow strong in the open countryside; they leave and never return.
Safe are their young ones, They grow up in the field, they have gone out, And have not returned to them.
5 Who gave the wild donkey its freedom? Who set it free from its bonds?
Who hath sent forth the wild ass free? Yea, the bands of the wild ass who opened?
6 I have given it the wilderness as its home, the salt plains as a place to live.
Whose house I have made the wilderness, And his dwellings the barren land,
7 It despises the noise of the city; it doesn't need to listen to the shouts of a driver.
He doth laugh at the multitude of a city, The cries of an exactor he heareth not.
8 It hunts in the mountains for pastureland, searching for all kinds of green plants to eat.
The range of mountains [is] his pasture, And after every green thing he seeketh.
9 Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your manger?
Is a Reem willing to serve thee? Doth he lodge by thy crib?
10 Can you tie a wild ox to a plow? Can you make it till your fields for you?
Dost thou bind a Reem in a furrow [with] his thick band? Doth he harrow 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?
Dost thou trust in him because great [is] his power? And dost thou leave unto him thy labour?
12 Are you sure it will gather your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
Dost thou trust in him That he doth bring back thy seed? And [to] thy threshing-floor doth gather [it]?
13 The ostrich proudly flaps her wings, but they are nothing like the flight feathers of the stork.
The wing of the rattling ones exulteth, Whether the pinion of the ostrich or hawk.
14 The ostrich abandons her eggs on the ground, leaving them to be warmed in the dust.
For she leaveth on the earth her eggs, And on the dust she doth warm them,
15 She doesn't think that they can be crushed underfoot, trampled by a wild animal.
And she forgetteth that a foot may press it, And a beast of the field tread it down.
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.
Her young ones it hath hardened without her, In vain [is] her labour without fear.
17 For I, God, made her forget wisdom—she didn't get her share of intelligence.
For God hath caused her to forget wisdom, And He hath not given a portion To her in understanding:
18 But when she needs to, she can jump up and run, mocking a horse and its rider with her speed.
At the time on high she lifteth herself up, She laugheth at the horse and at his rider.
19 Did you give the horse its strength? Did you place a mane upon its neck?
Dost thou give to the horse might? Dost thou clothe his neck [with] a mane?
20 Did you make it able to jump like a locust? Its loud snorting is terrifying!
Dost thou cause him to rush as a locust? The majesty of his snorting [is] terrible.
21 It paws at the ground, rearing up with power as it charges into battle.
They dig in a valley, and he rejoiceth in power, He goeth forth to meet the armour.
22 It laughs at fear; it is not frightened at all.
He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted, And he turneth not back from the face of the sword.
23 The quiver full of arrows rattles against it; the spear and the javelin flash in the sunlight.
Against him rattle doth quiver, The flame of a spear, and a halbert.
24 Shaking with rage it gallops across the ground; it cannot remain still when the trumpet sounds.
With trembling and rage he swalloweth the ground, And remaineth not stedfast Because of the sound of a trumpet.
25 Whenever the trumpet calls, it is ready; he senses the sound of battle from far away, he hears the commanders shouting.
Among the trumpets he saith, Aha, And from afar he doth smell battle, Roaring of princes and shouting.
26 Is it through your wisdom that the hawk soars, spreading its wings towards the south?
By thine understanding flieth a hawk? Spreadeth he his wings to the south?
27 Do you command the eagle to fly high and make its nest in the summits of the mountains?
At thy command goeth an eagle up high? Or lifteth he up his nest?
28 It lives among the cliffs, and roosts on a remote rocky crag.
A rock he doth inhabit, Yea, he lodgeth on the tooth of a rock, and fortress.
29 From there it spies its prey from far away, fixing its gaze on its victim. Its chicks eagerly swallow blood.
From thence he hath sought food, To a far off place his eyes look attentively,
30 Where the carcasses are, that's where birds of prey are found.”
And his brood gulp up blood, And where the pierced [are] — there [is] he!
