Job 39
1 Do you know at what time the wild goats have given birth among the rocks, or do you observe the deer when they go into labor?
Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched the birth-pains of the deer?
2 Have you numbered the months since their conception, and do you know at what time they gave birth?
Do you know how many months they carry their young? Do you know the time when they give birth?
3 They bend themselves for their offspring, and they give birth, and they emit roars.
They crouch down in labor to deliver their offspring.
4 Their young are weaned and go out to feed; they depart and do not return to them.
Their young grow strong in the open countryside; they leave and never return.
5 Who has set the wild ass free, and who has released his bonds?
Who gave the wild donkey its freedom? Who set it free from its bonds?
6 I have given a house in solitude to him, and his tabernacle is in the salted land.
I have given it the wilderness as its home, the salt plains as a place to live.
7 He despises the crowded city; he does not pay attention to the bellow of the tax collector.
It despises the noise of the city; it doesn't need to listen to the shouts of a driver.
8 He looks around the mountains of his pasture, and he searches everywhere for green plants.
It hunts in the mountains for pastureland, searching for all kinds of green plants to eat.
9 Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve you, and will he remain in your stall?
Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your manger?
10 Can you detain the rhinoceros with your harness to plough for you, and will he loosen the soil of the furrows behind you?
Can you tie a wild ox to a plow? Can you make it till your fields for you?
11 Will you put your faith in his great strength, and delegate your labors to him?
Because it's so powerful can you trust it? Can you depend on it to do your heavy work for you?
12 Will you trust him to return to you the seed, and to gather it on your drying floor?
Are you sure it will gather your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk.
The ostrich proudly flaps her wings, but they are nothing like the flight feathers of the stork.
14 When she leaves eggs behind in the earth, will you perhaps warm them in the dust?
The ostrich abandons her eggs on the ground, leaving them to be warmed in the dust.
15 She forgets that feet may trample them, or that the beasts of the field may shatter them.
She doesn't think that they can be crushed underfoot, trampled by a wild animal.
16 She is hardened against her young, as if they were not hers; she has labored in vain, with no fear compelling her.
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 deprived her of wisdom; neither has he given her understanding.
For I, God, made her forget wisdom—she didn't get her share of intelligence.
18 Yet, when the time is right, she raises her wings on high; she ridicules 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 Will you supply strength to the horse, or envelope his throat with neighing?
Did you give the horse its strength? Did you place a mane upon its neck?
20 Will you alarm him as the locusts do? His panic is revealed by the display of his nostrils.
Did you make it able to jump like a locust? Its loud snorting is terrifying!
21 He digs at the earth with his hoof; he jumps around boldly; he advances to meet armed men.
It paws at the ground, rearing up with power as it charges into battle.
22 He despises fear; he does not turn away from the sword.
It laughs at fear; it is not frightened at all.
23 Above him, the quiver rattles, the spear and the shield shake.
The quiver full of arrows rattles against it; the spear and the javelin flash in the sunlight.
24 Seething and raging, he drinks up the earth; neither does he pause when the blast of the trumpet sounds.
Shaking with rage it gallops across the ground; it cannot remain still when the trumpet sounds.
25 When he hears the bugle, he says, “Ha!” He smells the battle from a distance, the exhortation of the officers, and the battle cry of the soldiers.
Whenever the trumpet calls, it is ready; he senses the sound of battle from far away, he hears the commanders shouting.
26 Does the hawk grow feathers by means of your wisdom, spreading her wings towards the south?
Is it through your wisdom that the hawk soars, spreading its wings towards the south?
27 Will the eagle lift herself up at your command and make her nest in steep places?
Do you command the eagle to fly high and make its nest in the summits of the mountains?
28 She dwells among the rocks, and she lingers among broken boulders and inaccessible cliffs.
It lives among the cliffs, and roosts on a remote rocky crag.
29 From there, she looks for food, and her eyes catch sight of it from far away.
From there it spies its prey from far away, fixing its gaze on its victim. Its chicks eagerly swallow blood.
30 Her young will drink blood, and wherever the carcass will be, she is there immediately.
Where the carcasses are, that's where birds of prey are found.”
