Job 39

1 Knowest thou the season when the Wild Goats of the crags beget? The bringing forth of the hinds, canst thou observe?

“[Job], do you know at what time/season [of the year] the female mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the wild deer while their fawns were being born?

2 Canst thou count the months they fulfil? Or knowest thou the time when they give birth?

Do you know how many months pass from the time they become pregnant until their fawns are born?

3 They kneel down, their young, they bring forth; their pains, they throw off;

[When they give birth, ] they crouch down so that the fawns do not [get hurt by] falling to the ground when they are born.

4 Their young become strong, they grow up in the open field, they go out, and return not unto them.

The young fawns grow up in the open fields, and then they leave their mothers and do not return to them again.

5 Who hath sent forth the Wild Ass free? And, the bands of the swift-runner, who hath loosed?

“Who allows the wild donkeys to go wherever they want [DOU]?

6 Whose house I have made the waste plain, and his dwellings, the land of salt:

I am the one who put them in the desert, in places where grass does not grow.

7 He laugheth at the throng of the city, The shoutings of the driver, he heareth not;

They do not like the noise in the cities; [in the desert] they do not have to listen to the shouts of those who force donkeys to work.

8 He espieth the mountains, his pasture-ground, and, after every green thing, maketh search.

They go to the hills to find food; there they search for grass to eat.

9 Will the Wild-Ox be pleased to be thy servant? or lodge for the night by thy crib?

:Will a wild ox agree to work for you? Will it allow you to keep it penned up at night in the place where you put feed for your animals?

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 can you fasten it with a rope so that it will plow furrows/trenches in your fields?

11 Wilt thou trust in him, because of the greatness of his strength? Wilt thou leave unto him thy toil?

Since it is very strong, can you trust it to work for you? Can you go away after you tell it what work it should do [and assume that it will do that work]?

12 Wilt thou put faith in him, that he will bring back thy seed? and that, corn for thy threshing-floor, he will gather?

Can you rely on it to come back [from the field], bringing your grain to the place where you thresh it?

13 The wing of the Ostrich that waveth itself joyfully, Is it the pinion of lovingkindness or the plumage?

“[Think also about] the ostriches. [They] joyfully flap their wings, but they do not have wing feathers [that enable them to fly] like storks do.

14 For she leaveth—to the earth—her eggs, and, on the dust, she letteth them be warmed;

Ostriches lay their eggs on top of the ground [and then walk away], leaving the eggs to be warmed in the sand.

15 And hath forgotten, that, a foot, may crush them, —or, the wild beast, tread on them!

Ostriches do not worry that some wild animal may step on the eggs and crush them [DOU].

16 Dealing hardly with her young, as none-of-hers, In vain, her labour, without dread.

Ostriches act cruelly towards their chicks; they act as though the chicks belonged to some other ostrich. They are not concerned if [their chicks die], [and so] the laying of the eggs was in vain.

17 For GOD hath suffered her to forget wisdom, and given her no share in understanding.

That is because I did not allow ostriches to be wise. I did not enable them to be intelligent.

18 What time, on high, she vibrateth her wings, she laugheth at the horse and his rider.

But, when they get up and begin to run, they scornfully laugh at horses with their riders [because the horses cannot run as fast as the ostriches!]

19 Couldst thou give—to the Horse—strength? Couldst thou clothe his neck with the quivering mane?

And [think about] horses. [Job], are you the one who caused horses to be strong? Are you the one who put flowing (manes/long hair) on their necks?

20 Couldst thou cause him to leap like a locust? The majesty of his snort, is a terror!

Are you the one who enabled them to leap forward like locusts? When they (snort/blow loudly through their noses), they cause people to be afraid.

21 He diggeth into the plain, and rejoiceth in vigour, he goeth forth to meet armour;

They paw the ground, rejoicing about being very strong, as they prepare to rush into a battle.

22 He laugheth at dread, and is not dismayed, neither turneth he back, from the face of the sword;

[It is as if] they laugh at the thought of being afraid. They are not afraid of anything! They do not run away when [the soldiers in the battle are fighting each other with] swords.

23 Against him, whiz [the arrows of] the quiver, the flashing head of spear and javelin;

The quivers containing the riders’ arrows rattle against the horses’ sides, and the spears and javelins flash [in the light of the sun].

24 With stamping and rage, he drinketh up the ground, —he will not stand still when the horn soundeth;

The horses paw the ground fiercely/excitedly, [wanting the battle to begin, ] and they rush into the battle when the trumpet is blown.

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.

They neigh [joyfully] when they hear someone blowing the trumpet. They can smell a battle even when they are far away, and they understand what it means when the commanders shout their commands [to their soldiers].

26 Is it, by thine understanding, that the Bird of Passage betaketh him to his pinions? spreadeth out his wings to the south?

“[And think about big birds.] Are you the one who enabled hawks to spread their wings and fly to the south [for the winter]?

27 Or, at thy bidding, that the Eagle mounteth, and that he setteth on high his nest?

Do eagles fly high up [into the cliffs] to make their nests because you commanded them to do that?

28 The crag, he inhabiteth, and so lodgeth himself, on the tooth of the crag, and high fort;

They live in [holes in] those cliffs. They are safe in those high pointed rocks [because no animals can reach them there].

29 From thence, he searcheth out food, far away, his eyes do pierce;

As they watch carefully from there, they see far away the animals that they can kill (OR, dead bodies of animals).

30 And, his young brood, suck up blood, and, where the slain are, there, is he.

After an eagle kills an animal, the baby eagles drink the blood of that animal.”