Job 39
1 “[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?
εἰ ἔγνως καιρὸν τοκετοῦ τραγελάφων πέτρας ἐφύλαξας δὲ ὠδῖνας ἐλάφων
2 Do you know how many months pass from the time they become pregnant until their fawns are born?
ἠρίθμησας δὲ αὐτῶν μῆνας πλήρεις τοκετοῦ ὠδῖνας δὲ αὐτῶν ἔλυσας
3 [When they give birth, ] they crouch down so that the fawns do not [get hurt by] falling to the ground when they are born.
ἐξέθρεψας δὲ αὐτῶν τὰ παιδία ἔξω φόβου ὠδῖνας αὐτῶν ἐξαποστελεῖς
4 The young fawns grow up in the open fields, and then they leave their mothers and do not return to them again.
ἀπορρήξουσιν τὰ τέκνα αὐτῶν πληθυνθήσονται ἐν γενήματι ἐξελεύσονται καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀνακάμψουσιν αὐτοῖς
5 “Who allows the wild donkeys to go wherever they want [DOU]?
τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ ἀφεὶς ὄνον ἄγριον ἐλεύθερον δεσμοὺς δὲ αὐτοῦ τίς ἔλυσεν
6 I am the one who put them in the desert, in places where grass does not grow.
ἐθέμην δὲ τὴν δίαιταν αὐτοῦ ἔρημον καὶ τὰ σκηνώματα αὐτοῦ ἁλμυρίδα
7 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.
καταγελῶν πολυοχλίας πόλεως μέμψιν δὲ φορολόγου οὐκ ἀκούων
8 They go to the hills to find food; there they search for grass to eat.
κατασκέψεται ὄρη νομὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ ὀπίσω παντὸς χλωροῦ ζητεῖ
9 :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?
βουλήσεται δέ σοι μονόκερως δουλεῦσαι ἢ κοιμηθῆναι ἐπὶ φάτνης σου
10 And can you fasten it with a rope so that it will plow furrows/trenches in your fields?
δήσεις δὲ ἐν ἱμᾶσι ζυγὸν αὐτοῦ ἢ ἑλκύσει σου αὔλακας ἐν πεδίῳ
11 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]?
πέποιθας δὲ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ ὅτι πολλὴ ἡ ἰσχὺς αὐτοῦ ἐπαφήσεις δὲ αὐτῷ τὰ ἔργα σου
12 Can you rely on it to come back [from the field], bringing your grain to the place where you thresh it?
πιστεύσεις δὲ ὅτι ἀποδώσει σοι τὸν σπόρον εἰσοίσει δέ σου τὸν ἅλωνα
13 “[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.
πτέρυξ τερπομένων νεελασα ἐὰν συλλάβῃ ασιδα καὶ νεσσα
14 Ostriches lay their eggs on top of the ground [and then walk away], leaving the eggs to be warmed in the sand.
ὅτι ἀφήσει εἰς γῆν τὰ ᾠὰ αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπὶ χοῦν θάλψει
15 Ostriches do not worry that some wild animal may step on the eggs and crush them [DOU].
καὶ ἐπελάθετο ὅτι ποὺς σκορπιεῖ καὶ θηρία ἀγροῦ καταπατήσει
16 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.
ἀπεσκλήρυνεν τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς ὥστε μὴ ἑαυτῇ εἰς κενὸν ἐκοπίασεν ἄνευ φόβου
17 That is because I did not allow ostriches to be wise. I did not enable them to be intelligent.
ὅτι κατεσιώπησεν αὐτῇ ὁ θεὸς σοφίαν καὶ οὐκ ἐμέρισεν αὐτῇ ἐν τῇ συνέσει
18 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!]
κατὰ καιρὸν ἐν ὕψει ὑψώσει καταγελάσεται ἵππου καὶ τοῦ ἐπιβάτου αὐτοῦ
19 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?
ἦ σὺ περιέθηκας ἵππῳ δύναμιν ἐνέδυσας δὲ τραχήλῳ αὐτοῦ φόβον
20 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.
περιέθηκας δὲ αὐτῷ πανοπλίαν δόξαν δὲ στηθέων αὐτοῦ τόλμῃ
21 They paw the ground, rejoicing about being very strong, as they prepare to rush into a battle.
ἀνορύσσων ἐν πεδίῳ γαυριᾷ ἐκπορεύεται δὲ εἰς πεδίον ἐν ἰσχύι
22 [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.
συναντῶν βέλει καταγελᾷ καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀποστραφῇ ἀπὸ σιδήρου
23 The quivers containing the riders’ arrows rattle against the horses’ sides, and the spears and javelins flash [in the light of the sun].
ἐπ’ αὐτῷ γαυριᾷ τόξον καὶ μάχαιρα
24 The horses paw the ground fiercely/excitedly, [wanting the battle to begin, ] and they rush into the battle when the trumpet is blown.
καὶ ὀργῇ ἀφανιεῖ τὴν γῆν καὶ οὐ μὴ πιστεύσῃ ἕως ἂν σημάνῃ σάλπιγξ
25 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].
σάλπιγγος δὲ σημαινούσης λέγει εὖγε πόρρωθεν δὲ ὀσφραίνεται πολέμου σὺν ἅλματι καὶ κραυγῇ
26 “[And think about big birds.] Are you the one who enabled hawks to spread their wings and fly to the south [for the winter]?
ἐκ δὲ τῆς σῆς ἐπιστήμης ἕστηκεν ἱέραξ ἀναπετάσας τὰς πτέρυγας ἀκίνητος καθορῶν τὰ πρὸς νότον
27 Do eagles fly high up [into the cliffs] to make their nests because you commanded them to do that?
ἐπὶ δὲ σῷ προστάγματι ὑψοῦται ἀετός γὺψ δὲ ἐπὶ νοσσιᾶς αὐτοῦ καθεσθεὶς αὐλίζεται
28 They live in [holes in] those cliffs. They are safe in those high pointed rocks [because no animals can reach them there].
ἐπ’ ἐξοχῇ πέτρας καὶ ἀποκρύφῳ
29 As they watch carefully from there, they see far away the animals that they can kill (OR, dead bodies of animals).
ἐκεῖσε ὢν ζητεῖ τὰ σῖτα πόρρωθεν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ σκοπεύουσιν
30 After an eagle kills an animal, the baby eagles drink the blood of that animal.”
νεοσσοὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ φύρονται ἐν αἵματι οὗ δ’ ἂν ὦσι τεθνεῶτες παραχρῆμα εὑρίσκονται
