Job 39
1 Knowest thou the time when the wilde goates bring foorth yong? or doest thou marke when the hindes doe calue?
Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched the birth-pains of the deer?
2 Canst thou nomber the moneths that they fulfill? or knowest thou the time when they bring foorth?
Do you know how many months they carry their young? Do you know the time when they give birth?
3 They bow them selues: they bruise their yong and cast out their sorowes.
They crouch down in labor to deliver their offspring.
4 Yet their yong waxe fatte, and growe vp with corne: they goe foorth and returne not vnto them.
Their young grow strong in the open countryside; they leave and never return.
5 Who hath set the wilde asse at libertie? or who hath loosed the bondes of the wilde asse?
Who gave the wild donkey its freedom? Who set it free from its bonds?
6 It is I which haue made the wildernesse his house, and the salt places his dwellings.
I have given it the wilderness as its home, the salt plains as a place to live.
7 He derideth the multitude of the citie: he heareth not the crie of the driuer.
It despises the noise of the city; it doesn't need to listen to the shouts of a driver.
8 He seeketh out the mountaine for his pasture, and searcheth after euery greene thing.
It hunts in the mountains for pastureland, searching for all kinds of green plants to eat.
9 Will the vnicorne serue thee? or will he tary by thy cribbe?
Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your manger?
10 Canst thou binde the vnicorne with his band to labour in the furrowe? or will he plowe the valleyes after thee?
Can you tie a wild ox to a plow? Can you make it till your fields for you?
11 Wilt thou trust in him, because his strength is great, and cast off thy labour vnto him?
Because it's so powerful can you trust it? Can you depend on it to do your heavy work for you?
12 Wilt thou beleeue him, that he will bring home thy seede, and gather it vnto thy barne?
Are you sure it will gather your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 Hast thou giuen the pleasant wings vnto the peacockes? or winges and feathers vnto the ostriche?
The ostrich proudly flaps her wings, but they are nothing like the flight feathers of the stork.
14 Which leaueth his egges in the earth, and maketh them hote in the dust,
The ostrich abandons her eggs on the ground, leaving them to be warmed in the dust.
15 And forgetteth that the foote might scatter the, or that the wild beast might breake the.
She doesn't think that they can be crushed underfoot, trampled by a wild animal.
16 He sheweth himselfe cruell vnto his yong ones, as they were not his, and is without feare, as if he trauailed in vaine.
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.
17 For God had depriued him of wisedom, and hath giuen him no part of vnderstanding.
For I, God, made her forget wisdom—she didn't get her share of intelligence.
18 When time is, he mounteth on hie: he mocketh the horse and his rider.
But when she needs to, she can jump up and run, mocking a horse and its rider with her speed.
19 Hast thou giuen the horse strength? or couered his necke with neying?
Did you give the horse its strength? Did you place a mane upon its neck?
20 Hast thou made him afraid as the grashopper? his strong neying is fearefull.
Did you make it able to jump like a locust? Its loud snorting is terrifying!
21 He diggeth in the valley, and reioyceth in his strength: he goeth foorth to meete the harnest man.
It paws at the ground, rearing up with power as it charges into battle.
22 He mocketh at feare, and is not afraid, and turneth not backe from the sworde,
It laughs at fear; it is not frightened at all.
23 Though the quiuer rattle against him, the glittering speare and the shield.
The quiver full of arrows rattles against it; the spear and the javelin flash in the sunlight.
24 He swalloweth the ground for fearcenes and rage, and he beleeueth not that it is the noise of the trumpet.
Shaking with rage it gallops across the ground; it cannot remain still when the trumpet sounds.
25 He sayth among the trumpets, Ha, ha: hee smellleth the battell afarre off, and the noyse of the captaines, and the shouting.
Whenever the trumpet calls, it is ready; he senses the sound of battle from far away, he hears the commanders shouting.
26 Shall the hauke flie by thy wisedome, stretching out his wings toward the South?
Is it through your wisdom that the hawk soars, spreading its wings towards the south?
27 Doeth the eagle mount vp at thy commandement, or make his nest on hie?
Do you command the eagle to fly high and make its nest in the summits of the mountains?
28 Shee abideth and remaineth in the rocke, euen vpon the toppe of the rocke, and the tower.
It lives among the cliffs, and roosts on a remote rocky crag.
29 From thence she spieth for meate, and her eyes beholde afarre off.
From there it spies its prey from far away, fixing its gaze on its victim. Its chicks eagerly swallow blood.
30 His young ones also sucke vp blood: and where the slaine are, there is she.
Where the carcasses are, that's where birds of prey are found.”
