Job 39
1 Do you know at what time the wild goats in the rocks bear their young? Can you watch when the deer are having their fawns?
[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 Can you count the months that they gestate? Do you know the time when they bear their young?
and [if] you has have numbered the full months of their being with young, and [if] you have relieved their pangs:
3 They crouch down and birth their young, and then they finish their labor pains.
and have reared their young without fear; and will you loosen their pangs?
4 Their young ones become strong and grow up in the open fields; they go out and do not come back again.
Their young will break forth; they will be multiplied with offspring: [their young] will go forth, and will not return to them.
5 Who let the wild donkey go free? Who has untied the bonds of the swift donkey,
And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? and who loosed his bands?
6 whose home I have made in the Arabah, his house in the salt land?
whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts.
7 He laughs in scorn at the noises in the city; he does not hear the driver's shouts.
He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax-gatherer.
8 He roams over the mountains as his pastures; there he looks for every green plant to eat.
He will survey the mountains [as] his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing.
9 Will the wild ox be happy to serve you? Will he consent to stay by your manger?
And will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or to lie down at your manger?
10 Can you use ropes to hold the wild ox in the furrows? Will he harrow the valleys as he follows after you?
And will you bind his yoke with thongs, or will he plough furrows for you in the plain?
11 Will you trust him because his strength is great? Will you leave your work to him to do?
And do you trust him, because his strength is great? and will you commit your works to him?
12 Will you depend on him to bring your grain home, to gather the grain for your threshing floor?
And will you believe that he will return to you your seed, and bring [it] in [to] your threshing floor?
13 The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love?
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 lets them keep warm in the dust;
for [the ostrich] will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on the dust,
15 she forgets that a foot might crush them or that a wild beast might trample them.
and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them.
16 She deals roughly with her young ones as if they were not hers; she does not fear that her labor might have been in vain,
She has hardened [herself] against her young ones, as though [she bereaved] not herself: she labours in vain without fear.
17 because God has deprived her of wisdom and has not given her any understanding.
For God has withholden wisdom from her, and not given her a portion in understanding.
18 When she runs swiftly, she laughs in scorn at the horse and its rider.
In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider.
19 Have you given the horse his strength? Did you clothe his neck with his flowing mane?
Hast you invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror?
20 Have you ever made him jump like a locust? The majesty of his snorting is fearsome.
And have you clad him in perfect armour, and made his breast glorious with courage?
21 He paws in might and rejoices in his strength; he rushes out to meet the weapons.
He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain.
22 He mocks fear and is not dismayed; he does not turn back from the sword.
He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against his flank, along with the flashing spear and the javelin.
The bow and sword resound against him; and [his] rage will swallow up the ground:
24 He swallows up ground with fierceness and rage; at the trumpet's sound, he cannot stand in one place.
and he will not believe until the trumpet sounds.
25 Whenever the trumpet sounds, he says, 'Aha!' He smells the battle from far away— the thunderous shouts of the commanders and the outcries.
And when the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! and afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing.
26 Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, that he stretches out his wings for the south?
And does the hawk remain steady by your wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking towards the region of the south?
27 Is it at your orders that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest in high places?
And does the eagle rise at your command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest,
28 He lives on cliffs and makes his home on the peaks of cliffs, a stronghold.
on a crag of a rock, and in a secret [place]?
29 From there he searches for victims; his eyes see them from very far away.
Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far.
30 His young also drink up blood; where killed people are, there he is.”
And his young ones roll themselves in blood, and wherever the carcasses may be, immediately they are found.
