Job 39
1 Hast thou known the time of The bearing of the wild goats of the rock? The bringing forth of hinds thou dost mark!
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?
2 Thou dost number the months they fulfil? And thou hast known the time of their bringing forth!
Can you count the months that they gestate? Do you know the time when they bear their young?
3 They bow down, Their young ones they bring forth safely, Their pangs they cast forth.
They crouch down and birth their young, and then they finish their labor pains.
4 Safe are their young ones, They grow up in the field, they have gone out, And have not returned to them.
Their young ones become strong and grow up in the open fields; they go out and do not come back again.
5 Who hath sent forth the wild ass free? Yea, the bands of the wild ass who opened?
Who let the wild donkey go free? Who has untied the bonds of the swift donkey,
6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, And his dwellings the barren land,
whose home I have made in the Arabah, his house in the salt land?
7 He doth laugh at the multitude of a city, The cries of an exactor he heareth not.
He laughs in scorn at the noises in the city; he does not hear the driver's shouts.
8 The range of mountains [is] his pasture, And after every green thing he seeketh.
He roams over the mountains as his pastures; there he looks for every green plant to eat.
9 Is a Reem willing to serve thee? Doth he lodge by thy crib?
Will the wild ox be happy to serve you? Will he consent to stay by your manger?
10 Dost thou bind a Reem in a furrow [with] his thick band? Doth he harrow valleys after thee?
Can you use ropes to hold the wild ox in the furrows? Will he harrow the valleys as he follows after you?
11 Dost thou trust in him because great [is] his power? And dost thou leave unto him thy labour?
Will you trust him because his strength is great? Will you leave your work to him to do?
12 Dost thou trust in him That he doth bring back thy seed? And [to] thy threshing-floor doth gather [it]?
Will you depend on him to bring your grain home, to gather the grain for your threshing floor?
13 The wing of the rattling ones exulteth, Whether the pinion of the ostrich or hawk.
The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love?
14 For she leaveth on the earth her eggs, And on the dust she doth warm them,
For she leaves her eggs on the earth, and she lets them keep warm in the dust;
15 And she forgetteth that a foot may press it, And a beast of the field tread it down.
she forgets that a foot might crush them or that a wild beast might trample them.
16 Her young ones it hath hardened without her, In vain [is] her labour without fear.
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,
17 For God hath caused her to forget wisdom, And He hath not given a portion To her in understanding:
because God has deprived her of wisdom and has not given her any understanding.
18 At the time on high she lifteth herself up, She laugheth at the horse and at his rider.
When she runs swiftly, she laughs in scorn at the horse and its rider.
19 Dost thou give to the horse might? Dost thou clothe his neck [with] a mane?
Have you given the horse his strength? Did you clothe his neck with his flowing mane?
20 Dost thou cause him to rush as a locust? The majesty of his snorting [is] terrible.
Have you ever made him jump like a locust? The majesty of his snorting is fearsome.
21 They dig in a valley, and he rejoiceth in power, He goeth forth to meet the armour.
He paws in might and rejoices in his strength; he rushes out to meet the weapons.
22 He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted, And he turneth not back from the face of the sword.
He mocks fear and is not dismayed; he does not turn back from the sword.
23 Against him rattle doth quiver, The flame of a spear, and a halbert.
The quiver rattles against his flank, along with the flashing spear and the javelin.
24 With trembling and rage he swalloweth the ground, And remaineth not stedfast Because of the sound of a trumpet.
He swallows up ground with fierceness and rage; at the trumpet's sound, he cannot stand in one place.
25 Among the trumpets he saith, Aha, And from afar he doth smell battle, Roaring of princes and shouting.
Whenever the trumpet sounds, he says, 'Aha!' He smells the battle from far away— the thunderous shouts of the commanders and the outcries.
26 By thine understanding flieth a hawk? Spreadeth he his wings to the south?
Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, that he stretches out his wings for the south?
27 At thy command goeth an eagle up high? Or lifteth he up his nest?
Is it at your orders that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest in high places?
28 A rock he doth inhabit, Yea, he lodgeth on the tooth of a rock, and fortress.
He lives on cliffs and makes his home on the peaks of cliffs, a stronghold.
29 From thence he hath sought food, To a far off place his eyes look attentively,
From there he searches for victims; his eyes see them from very far away.
30 And his brood gulp up blood, And where the pierced [are] — there [is] he!
His young also drink up blood; where killed people are, there he is.”
