Job 39

1 “[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?

Hast thou known the time of The bearing of the wild goats of the rock? The bringing forth of hinds thou dost mark!

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

Thou dost number the months they fulfil? And thou hast known the time of their bringing forth!

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

They bow down, Their young ones they bring forth safely, Their pangs they cast forth.

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

Safe are their young ones, They grow up in the field, they have gone out, And have not returned to them.

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

Who hath sent forth the wild ass free? Yea, the bands of the wild ass who opened?

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

Whose house I have made the wilderness, And his dwellings the barren land,

7 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.

He doth laugh at the multitude of a city, The cries of an exactor he heareth not.

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

The range of mountains [is] his pasture, And after every green thing he seeketh.

9 :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?

Is a Reem willing to serve thee? Doth he lodge by thy crib?

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

Dost thou bind a Reem in a furrow [with] his thick band? Doth he harrow valleys after thee?

11 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]?

Dost thou trust in him because great [is] his power? And dost thou leave unto him thy labour?

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

Dost thou trust in him That he doth bring back thy seed? And [to] thy threshing-floor doth gather [it]?

13 “[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.

The wing of the rattling ones exulteth, Whether the pinion of the ostrich or hawk.

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

For she leaveth on the earth her eggs, And on the dust she doth warm them,

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

And she forgetteth that a foot may press it, And a beast of the field tread it down.

16 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.

Her young ones it hath hardened without her, In vain [is] her labour without fear.

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

For God hath caused her to forget wisdom, And He hath not given a portion To her in understanding:

18 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!]

At the time on high she lifteth herself up, She laugheth at the horse and at his rider.

19 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?

Dost thou give to the horse might? Dost thou clothe his neck [with] a mane?

20 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.

Dost thou cause him to rush as a locust? The majesty of his snorting [is] terrible.

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

They dig in a valley, and he rejoiceth in power, He goeth forth to meet the armour.

22 [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.

He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted, And he turneth not back from the face of the sword.

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

Against him rattle doth quiver, The flame of a spear, and a halbert.

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

With trembling and rage he swalloweth the ground, And remaineth not stedfast Because of the sound of a trumpet.

25 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].

Among the trumpets he saith, Aha, And from afar he doth smell battle, Roaring of princes and shouting.

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

By thine understanding flieth a hawk? Spreadeth he his wings to the south?

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

At thy command goeth an eagle up high? Or lifteth he up his nest?

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

A rock he doth inhabit, Yea, he lodgeth on the tooth of a rock, and fortress.

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

From thence he hath sought food, To a far off place his eyes look attentively,

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

And his brood gulp up blood, And where the pierced [are] — there [is] he!