Job 39
1 Knowest thou the season when the Wild Goats of the crags beget? The bringing forth of the hinds, canst thou observe?
Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched the birth-pains of the deer?
2 Canst thou count the months they fulfil? Or knowest thou the time when they give birth?
Do you know how many months they carry their young? Do you know the time when they give birth?
3 They kneel down, their young, they bring forth; their pains, they throw off;
They crouch down in labor to deliver their offspring.
4 Their young become strong, they grow up in the open field, they go out, and return not unto them.
Their young grow strong in the open countryside; they leave and never return.
5 Who hath sent forth the Wild Ass free? And, the bands of the swift-runner, who hath loosed?
Who gave the wild donkey its freedom? Who set it free from its bonds?
6 Whose house I have made the waste plain, and his dwellings, the land of salt:
I have given it the wilderness as its home, the salt plains as a place to live.
7 He laugheth at the throng of the city, The shoutings of the driver, he heareth not;
It despises the noise of the city; it doesn't need to listen to the shouts of a driver.
8 He espieth the mountains, his pasture-ground, and, after every green thing, maketh search.
It hunts in the mountains for pastureland, searching for all kinds of green plants to eat.
9 Will the Wild-Ox be pleased to be thy servant? or lodge for the night by thy crib?
Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your manger?
10 Canst thou bind the wild-ox, so that—with the ridge—shall run his cord? Or will he harrow the furrows after thee?
Can you tie a wild ox to a plow? Can you make it till your fields for you?
11 Wilt thou trust in him, because of the greatness of his strength? Wilt thou leave unto him thy toil?
Because it's so powerful can you trust it? Can you depend on it to do your heavy work for you?
12 Wilt thou put faith in him, that he will bring back thy seed? and that, corn for thy threshing-floor, he will gather?
Are you sure it will gather your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 The wing of the Ostrich that waveth itself joyfully, Is it the pinion of lovingkindness or the plumage?
The ostrich proudly flaps her wings, but they are nothing like the flight feathers of the stork.
14 For she leaveth—to the earth—her eggs, and, on the dust, she letteth them be warmed;
The ostrich abandons her eggs on the ground, leaving them to be warmed in the dust.
15 And hath forgotten, that, a foot, may crush them, —or, the wild beast, tread on them!
She doesn't think that they can be crushed underfoot, trampled by a wild animal.
16 Dealing hardly with her young, as none-of-hers, In vain, her labour, without dread.
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 hath suffered her to forget wisdom, and given her no share in understanding.
For I, God, made her forget wisdom—she didn't get her share of intelligence.
18 What time, on high, she vibrateth her wings, she laugheth 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 Couldst thou give—to the Horse—strength? Couldst thou clothe his neck with the quivering mane?
Did you give the horse its strength? Did you place a mane upon its neck?
20 Couldst thou cause him to leap like a locust? The majesty of his snort, is a terror!
Did you make it able to jump like a locust? Its loud snorting is terrifying!
21 He diggeth into the plain, and rejoiceth in vigour, he goeth forth to meet armour;
It paws at the ground, rearing up with power as it charges into battle.
22 He laugheth at dread, and is not dismayed, neither turneth he back, from the face of the sword;
It laughs at fear; it is not frightened at all.
23 Against him, whiz [the arrows of] the quiver, the flashing head of spear and javelin;
The quiver full of arrows rattles against it; the spear and the javelin flash in the sunlight.
24 With stamping and rage, he drinketh up the ground, —he will not stand still when the horn soundeth;
Shaking with rage it gallops across the ground; it cannot remain still when the trumpet sounds.
25 As oft as the horn soundeth, he saith, Aha! And, from afar, he scenteth the battle, —the thunder of commanders and the war-cry.
Whenever the trumpet calls, it is ready; he senses the sound of battle from far away, he hears the commanders shouting.
26 Is it, by thine understanding, that the Bird of Passage betaketh him to his pinions? spreadeth out his wings to the south?
Is it through your wisdom that the hawk soars, spreading its wings towards the south?
27 Or, at thy bidding, that the Eagle mounteth, and that he setteth on high his nest?
Do you command the eagle to fly high and make its nest in the summits of the mountains?
28 The crag, he inhabiteth, and so lodgeth himself, on the tooth of the crag, and high fort;
It lives among the cliffs, and roosts on a remote rocky crag.
29 From thence, he searcheth out food, far away, his eyes do pierce;
From there it spies its prey from far away, fixing its gaze on its victim. Its chicks eagerly swallow blood.
30 And, his young brood, suck up blood, and, where the slain are, there, is he.
Where the carcasses are, that's where birds of prey are found.”
