Job 39
1 Knowest thou the time when the chamois of the rock bring forth? or markest thou when the hinds do calve?
[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:
2 Numberest thou the months of gestation which they complete and knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
and [if] you has have numbered the full months of their being with young, and [if] you have relieved their pangs:
3 They bend themselves: they drop their young ones; throw off their pains.
and have reared their young without fear; and will you loosen their pangs?
4 Their little ones become strong; they grow up in the open field; they go forth, and return not unto them.
Their young will break forth; they will be multiplied with offspring: [their young] will go forth, and will not return to them.
5 Who sent out the wild ass free? or who loosened the bonds of the forest-ass?
And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? and who loosed his bands?
6 To whom I assigned the wilderness as his house, and the salty land as his dwellings.
whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts.
7 He laugheth at the noise of a town, and the shoutings of the driver he heareth not.
He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax-gatherer.
8 What he espieth on the mountains is his pasture, and after every green thing doth he search.
He will survey the mountains [as] his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing.
9 Will the forest-ox be willing to serve thee, or will he stay over night at thy crib?
And will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or to lie down at your manger?
10 Canst thou bind the forest-ox with a rope [to labor] in the furrow? or will he harrow valleys, following after thee?
And will you bind his yoke with thongs, or will he plow furrows for you in the plain?
11 Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou leave to him thy labor?
And do you trust him, because his strength is great? and will you commit your works to him?
12 Wilt thou confide in him, that he should bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy threshing-floor?—
And will you believe that he will return to you your seed, and bring [it] in [to] your threshing floor?
13 The wing of the ostrich moveth joyfully: hath she the pinions and plumage of the careful stork?
The peacock has a beautiful wing: if the stork and the ostrich conceive, [it is worthy of notice],
14 [No, ] for she intrusteth her eggs to the earth, and letteth them be hatched out on the dust:
for [the ostrich] will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on the dust,
15 And she forgetteth that a foot may crush them, or that the beast of the field may stamp them down.
and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them.
16 He hath made her callous against her young, as though they were not hers: her labor is in vain, [but she feeleth] no dread;
She has hardened [herself] against her young ones, as though [she bereaved] not herself: she labors in vain without fear.
17 Because God hath denied her wisdom, and he hath not imparted to her understanding.
For God has withholden wisdom from her, and not given her a portion in understanding.
18 At the time she raiseth herself up on high, she laugheth at the horse and his rider.
In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider.
19 Dost thou give the horse strength? dost thou clothe his neck with the rolling mane?
Hast you invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror?
20 Canst thou make him jump like a locust? his majestic snort is terrible.
And have you clad him in perfect armor, and made his breast glorious with courage?
21 Men spy about in the valley, and he rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth forth to meet the armed array.
He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain.
22 He laugheth at fear, and is not dismayed; and turneth not back from before the sword.
He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword.
23 Over him rattle the quiver, the glittering spear and the lance.
The bow and sword resound against him; and [his] rage will swallow up the ground:
24 With impatient noise and rage he holloweth [with his hoof] the ground, and keepeth not quiet when the cornet's voice [is heard].
and he will not believe until the trumpet sounds.
25 Midst the sound of the cornet he uttereth his joyful neigh; and from afar he perceiveth the battle, the loud call of the captains, and the battle-cry.—
And when the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! and afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing.
26 Is it through thy understanding that the hawk flieth along, and spreadeth out his wings toward the south?
And does the hawk remain steady by your wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking toward the region of the south?
27 Or is it by your order that the eagle doth mount upward, and buildeth high up his nest?
And does the eagle rise at your command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest,
28 On a rock he dwelleth, and spendeth his nights, on a rocky crag and mountain fastness.
on a crag of a rock, and in a secret [place]?
29 From there he espieth his food, from afar can his eyes behold.
Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far.
30 His young ones, also, sip up blood: and where the slain be, there is he.
And his young ones roll themselves in blood, and wherever the carcasses may be, immediately they are found.
