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?
Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched the birth-pains of the deer?
2 Do you number the months they fulfill? And have you known the time of their bringing forth?
Do you know how many months they carry their young? Do you know the time when they give birth?
3 They bow down, They bring forth their young ones safely, They cast forth their pangs.
They crouch down in labor to deliver their offspring.
4 Their young ones are safe, They grow up in the field, they have gone out, And have not returned to them.
Their young grow strong in the open countryside; they leave and never return.
5 Who has sent forth the wild donkey free? Indeed, who opened the bands of the wild donkey?
Who gave the wild donkey its freedom? Who set it free from its bonds?
6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, And his dwellings the barren land,
I have given it the wilderness as its home, the salt plains as a place to live.
7 He laughs at the multitude of a city, He does not hear the cries of an exactor.
It despises the noise of the city; it doesn't need to listen to the shouts of a driver.
8 The range of mountains [is] his pasture, And he seeks after every green thing.
It hunts in the mountains for pastureland, searching for all kinds of green plants to eat.
9 Is a wild ox willing to serve you? Does he lodge by your crib?
Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your manger?
10 Do you bind a wild ox in a furrow [with] his thick band? Does he harrow valleys after you?
Can you tie a wild ox to a plow? Can you make it till your fields for you?
11 Do you trust in him because his power [is] great? And do you leave your labor to him?
Because it's so powerful can you trust it? Can you depend on it to do your heavy work for you?
12 Do you trust in him That he brings back your seed, And gathers [it to] your threshing-floor?
Are you sure it will gather your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 [The] wing of the crying ostriches exults, but as a pinion and feather of a stork?
The ostrich proudly flaps her wings, but they are nothing like the flight feathers of the stork.
14 For she leaves her eggs on the earth, And she warms them on the dust,
The ostrich abandons her eggs on the ground, leaving them to be warmed in the dust.
15 And she forgets that a foot may press it, And a beast of the field treads it down.
She doesn't think that they can be crushed underfoot, trampled by a wild animal.
16 It has hardened her young ones without her, Her labor [is] in vain, without fear.
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 has caused her to forget wisdom, And He has not given a portion To her in understanding;
For I, God, made her forget wisdom—she didn't get her share of intelligence.
18 At the time she lifts herself up on high, She laughs at 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 Do you give might to the horse? Do you clothe his neck [with] a mane?
Did you give the horse its strength? Did you place a mane upon its neck?
20 Do you cause him to rush as a locust? The splendor of his snorting [is] terrible.
Did you make it able to jump like a locust? Its loud snorting is terrifying!
21 They dig in a valley, and he rejoices in power, He goes forth to meet the armor.
It paws at the ground, rearing up with power as it charges into battle.
22 He laughs at fear, and is not frightened, And he does not turn back from the face of the sword.
It laughs at fear; it is not frightened at all.
23 Quiver rattles against him, The flame of a spear, and a javelin.
The quiver full of arrows rattles against it; the spear and the javelin flash in the sunlight.
24 He swallows the ground with trembling and rage, And does not remain steadfast Because of the sound of a horn.
Shaking with rage it gallops across the ground; it cannot remain still when the trumpet sounds.
25 Among the horns he says, Aha, And from afar he smells battle, Roaring of princes and shouting.
Whenever the trumpet calls, it is ready; he senses the sound of battle from far away, he hears the commanders shouting.
26 By your understanding does a hawk fly? Does he spread his wings to the south?
Is it through your wisdom that the hawk soars, spreading its wings towards the south?
27 At your command does an eagle go up high? Or lift up his nest?
Do you command the eagle to fly high and make its nest in the summits of the mountains?
28 He inhabits a rock, Indeed, he lodges on the tooth of a rock, and fortress.
It lives among the cliffs, and roosts on a remote rocky crag.
29 From there he has sought food, His eyes look attentively to a far-off place,
From there it spies its prey from far away, fixing its gaze on its victim. Its chicks eagerly swallow blood.
30 And his brood sucks up blood, And where the pierced [are]—there [is] he!”
Where the carcasses are, that's where birds of prey are found.”
