Job 39
1 Knowest thou the season when the Wild Goats of the crags beget? The bringing forth of the hinds, canst thou observe?
[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 Canst thou count the months they fulfil? Or knowest thou the time when they give birth?
and [if] you has have numbered the full months of their being with young, and [if] you have relieved their pangs:
3 They kneel down, their young, they bring forth; their pains, they throw off;
and have reared their young without fear; and will you loosen their pangs?
4 Their young become strong, they grow up in the open field, they go out, and return not unto them.
Their young will break forth; they will be multiplied with offspring: [their young] will go forth, and will not return to them.
5 Who hath sent forth the Wild Ass free? And, the bands of the swift-runner, who hath loosed?
And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? and who loosed his bands?
6 Whose house I have made the waste plain, and his dwellings, the land of salt:
whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts.
7 He laugheth at the throng of the city, The shoutings of the driver, he heareth not;
He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax-gatherer.
8 He espieth the mountains, his pasture-ground, and, after every green thing, maketh search.
He will survey the mountains [as] his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing.
9 Will the Wild-Ox be pleased to be thy servant? or lodge for the night by thy crib?
And will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or to lie down 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?
And will you bind his yoke with thongs, or will he plow furrows for you in the plain?
11 Wilt thou trust in him, because of the greatness of his strength? Wilt thou leave unto him thy toil?
And do you trust him, because his strength is great? and will you commit your works to him?
12 Wilt thou put faith in him, that he will bring back thy seed? and that, corn for thy threshing-floor, he will gather?
And will you believe that he will return to you your seed, and bring [it] in [to] your threshing floor?
13 The wing of the Ostrich that waveth itself joyfully, Is it the pinion of lovingkindness or the plumage?
The peacock has a beautiful wing: if the stork and the ostrich conceive, [it is worthy of notice],
14 For she leaveth—to the earth—her eggs, and, on the dust, she letteth them be warmed;
for [the ostrich] will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on the dust,
15 And hath forgotten, that, a foot, may crush them, —or, the wild beast, tread on them!
and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them.
16 Dealing hardly with her young, as none-of-hers, In vain, her labour, without dread.
She has hardened [herself] against her young ones, as though [she bereaved] not herself: she labors in vain without fear.
17 For GOD hath suffered her to forget wisdom, and given her no share in understanding.
For God has withholden wisdom from her, and not given her a portion in understanding.
18 What time, on high, she vibrateth her wings, she laugheth at the horse and his rider.
In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider.
19 Couldst thou give—to the Horse—strength? Couldst thou clothe his neck with the quivering mane?
Hast you invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror?
20 Couldst thou cause him to leap like a locust? The majesty of his snort, is a terror!
And have you clad him in perfect armor, and made his breast glorious with courage?
21 He diggeth into the plain, and rejoiceth in vigour, he goeth forth to meet armour;
He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain.
22 He laugheth at dread, and is not dismayed, neither turneth he back, from the face of the sword;
He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword.
23 Against him, whiz [the arrows of] the quiver, the flashing head of spear and javelin;
The bow and sword resound against him; and [his] rage will swallow up the ground:
24 With stamping and rage, he drinketh up the ground, —he will not stand still when the horn soundeth;
and he will not believe until 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.
And when the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! and afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing.
26 Is it, by thine understanding, that the Bird of Passage betaketh him to his pinions? spreadeth out his wings to the south?
And does the hawk remain steady by your wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking toward the region of the south?
27 Or, at thy bidding, that the Eagle mounteth, and that he setteth on high his nest?
And does the eagle rise at your command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest,
28 The crag, he inhabiteth, and so lodgeth himself, on the tooth of the crag, and high fort;
on a crag of a rock, and in a secret [place]?
29 From thence, he searcheth out food, far away, his eyes do pierce;
Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far.
30 And, his young brood, suck up blood, and, where the slain are, there, is he.
And his young ones roll themselves in blood, and wherever the carcasses may be, immediately they are found.
