Job 39
1 “Have you known the time of The bearing of the wild goats of the rock? Do you mark the bringing forth of does?
[Say] if thou knowest the time of the bringing forth of the wild goats of the rock, and [if] thou hast marked the calving of the hinds:
2 Do you number the months they fulfill? And have you known the time of their bringing forth?
and [if] thou has hast numbered the full months of their being with young, and [if] thou hast relieved their pangs:
3 They bow down, They bring forth their young ones safely, They cast forth their pangs.
and hast reared their young without fear; and wilt thou loosen their pangs?
4 Their young ones are safe, They grow up in the field, they have gone out, And have not returned to 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 has sent forth the wild donkey free? Indeed, who opened the bands of the wild donkey?
And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? and who loosed his bands?
6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, And his dwellings the barren land,
whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts.
7 He laughs at the multitude of a city, He does not hear the cries of an exactor.
He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax-gatherer.
8 The range of mountains [is] his pasture, And he seeks after every green thing.
He will survey the mountains [as] his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing.
9 Is a wild ox willing to serve you? Does he lodge by your crib?
And will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or to lie down at thy manger?
10 Do you bind a wild ox in a furrow [with] his thick band? Does he harrow valleys after you?
And wilt thou bind his yoke with thongs, or will he plough furrows for thee in the plain?
11 Do you trust in him because his power [is] great? And do you leave your labor to him?
And dost thou trust him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou commit thy works to him?
12 Do you trust in him That he brings back your seed, And gathers [it to] your threshing-floor?
And wilt thou believe that he will return to thee thy seed, and bring [it] in [to] thy threshing-floor?
13 [The] wing of the crying ostriches exults, but as a pinion and feather of a stork?
The peacock has a beautiful wing: if the stork and the ostrich conceive, [it is worthy of notice],
14 For she leaves her eggs on the earth, And she warms them on the dust,
for [the ostrich] will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on the dust,
15 And she forgets that a foot may press it, And a beast of the field treads it down.
and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them.
16 It has hardened her young ones without her, Her labor [is] in vain, without fear.
She has hardened [herself] against her young ones, as though [she bereaved] not herself: she labours in vain without fear.
17 For God has caused her to forget wisdom, And He has not given a portion To her in understanding;
For God has withholden wisdom from her, and not given her a portion in understanding.
18 At the time she lifts herself up on high, She laughs at the horse and his rider.
In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider.
19 Do you give might to the horse? Do you clothe his neck [with] a mane?
Hast thou invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror?
20 Do you cause him to rush as a locust? The splendor of his snorting [is] terrible.
And hast thou clad him in perfect armour, and made his breast glorious with courage?
21 They dig in a valley, and he rejoices in power, He goes forth to meet the armor.
He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain.
22 He laughs at fear, and is not frightened, And he does not turn back from the face of the sword.
He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword.
23 Quiver rattles against him, The flame of a spear, and a javelin.
The bow and sword resound against him; and [his] rage will swallow up the ground:
24 He swallows the ground with trembling and rage, And does not remain steadfast Because of the sound of a horn.
and he will not believe until the trumpet sounds.
25 Among the horns he says, Aha, And from afar he smells battle, Roaring of princes and shouting.
And when the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! and afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing.
26 By your understanding does a hawk fly? Does he spread his wings to the south?
And does the hawk remain steady by thy wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking toward the region of the south?
27 At your command does an eagle go up high? Or lift up his nest?
And does the eagle rise at thy command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest,
28 He inhabits a rock, Indeed, he lodges on the tooth of a rock, and fortress.
on a crag of a rock, and in a secret [place]?
29 From there he has sought food, His eyes look attentively to a far-off place,
Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far.
30 And his brood sucks up blood, And where the pierced [are]—there [is] he!”
And his young ones roll themselves in blood, and wherever the carcasses may be, immediately they are found.
