Job 39
1 Knowest thou the time when the chamois of the rock bring forth? or markest thou when the hinds do calve?
“[Job], do you know at what time/season [of the year] the female mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the wild deer while their fawns were being born?
2 Numberest thou the months of gestation which they complete and knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
Do you know how many months pass from the time they become pregnant until their fawns are born?
3 They bend themselves: they drop their young ones; throw off their pains.
[When they give birth, ] they crouch down so that the fawns do not [get hurt by] falling to the ground when they are born.
4 Their little ones become strong; they grow up in the open field; they go forth, and return not unto them.
The young fawns grow up in the open fields, and then they leave their mothers and do not return to them again.
5 Who sent out the wild ass free? or who loosened the bonds of the forest-ass?
“Who allows the wild donkeys to go wherever they want [DOU]?
6 To whom I assigned the wilderness as his house, and the salty land as his dwellings.
I am the one who put them in the desert, in places where grass does not grow.
7 He laugheth at the noise of a town, and the shoutings of the driver he heareth not.
They do not like the noise in the cities; [in the desert] they do not have to listen to the shouts of those who force donkeys to work.
8 What he espieth on the mountains is his pasture, and after every green thing doth he search.
They go to the hills to find food; there they search for grass to eat.
9 Will the forest-ox be willing to serve thee, or will he stay over night at thy crib?
:Will a wild ox agree to work for you? Will it allow you to keep it penned up at night in the place where you put feed for your animals?
10 Canst thou bind the forest-ox with a rope [to labor] in the furrow? or will he harrow valleys, following after thee?
And can you fasten it with a rope so that it will plow furrows/trenches in your fields?
11 Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou leave to him thy labor?
Since it is very strong, can you trust it to work for you? Can you go away after you tell it what work it should do [and assume that it will do that work]?
12 Wilt thou confide in him, that he should bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy threshing-floor?—
Can you rely on it to come back [from the field], bringing your grain to the place where you thresh it?
13 The wing of the ostrich moveth joyfully: hath she the pinions and plumage of the careful stork?
“[Think also about] the ostriches. [They] joyfully flap their wings, but they do not have wing feathers [that enable them to fly] like storks do.
14 [No, ] for she intrusteth her eggs to the earth, and letteth them be hatched out on the dust:
Ostriches lay their eggs on top of the ground [and then walk away], leaving the eggs to be warmed in the sand.
15 And she forgetteth that a foot may crush them, or that the beast of the field may stamp them down.
Ostriches do not worry that some wild animal may step on the eggs and crush them [DOU].
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;
Ostriches act cruelly towards their chicks; they act as though the chicks belonged to some other ostrich. They are not concerned if [their chicks die], [and so] the laying of the eggs was in vain.
17 Because God hath denied her wisdom, and he hath not imparted to her understanding.
That is because I did not allow ostriches to be wise. I did not enable them to be intelligent.
18 At the time she raiseth herself up on high, she laugheth at the horse and his rider.
But, when they get up and begin to run, they scornfully laugh at horses with their riders [because the horses cannot run as fast as the ostriches!]
19 Dost thou give the horse strength? dost thou clothe his neck with the rolling mane?
And [think about] horses. [Job], are you the one who caused horses to be strong? Are you the one who put flowing (manes/long hair) on their necks?
20 Canst thou make him jump like a locust? his majestic snort is terrible.
Are you the one who enabled them to leap forward like locusts? When they (snort/blow loudly through their noses), they cause people to be afraid.
21 Men spy about in the valley, and he rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth forth to meet the armed array.
They paw the ground, rejoicing about being very strong, as they prepare to rush into a battle.
22 He laugheth at fear, and is not dismayed; and turneth not back from before the sword.
[It is as if] they laugh at the thought of being afraid. They are not afraid of anything! They do not run away when [the soldiers in the battle are fighting each other with] swords.
23 Over him rattle the quiver, the glittering spear and the lance.
The quivers containing the riders’ arrows rattle against the horses’ sides, and the spears and javelins flash [in the light of the sun].
24 With impatient noise and rage he holloweth [with his hoof] the ground, and keepeth not quiet when the cornet's voice [is heard].
The horses paw the ground fiercely/excitedly, [wanting the battle to begin, ] and they rush into the battle when the trumpet is blown.
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.—
They neigh [joyfully] when they hear someone blowing the trumpet. They can smell a battle even when they are far away, and they understand what it means when the commanders shout their commands [to their soldiers].
26 Is it through thy understanding that the hawk flieth along, and spreadeth out his wings toward the south?
“[And think about big birds.] Are you the one who enabled hawks to spread their wings and fly to the south [for the winter]?
27 Or is it by your order that the eagle doth mount upward, and buildeth high up his nest?
Do eagles fly high up [into the cliffs] to make their nests because you commanded them to do that?
28 On a rock he dwelleth, and spendeth his nights, on a rocky crag and mountain fastness.
They live in [holes in] those cliffs. They are safe in those high pointed rocks [because no animals can reach them there].
29 From there he espieth his food, from afar can his eyes behold.
As they watch carefully from there, they see far away the animals that they can kill (OR, dead bodies of animals).
30 His young ones, also, sip up blood: and where the slain be, there is he.
After an eagle kills an animal, the baby eagles drink the blood of that animal.”
