Job 39

1 “Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?

[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 Can you count the months that they fulfil? Or do you know 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 bow themselves. They bear their young. They end their labour pains.

and have reared their young without fear; and will you loosen their pangs?

4 Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go out, and don’t return again.

Their young will break forth; they will be multiplied with offspring: [their young] will go forth, and will not return to them.

5 “Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,

And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? and who loosed his bands?

6 whose home I have made the wilderness, and the salt land his dwelling place?

whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts.

7 He scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.

He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax-gatherer.

8 The range of the mountains is his pasture. He searches after every green thing.

He will survey the mountains [as] his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing.

9 “Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?

And will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or to lie down at your manger?

10 Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?

And will you bind his yoke with thongs, or will he plow furrows for you in the plain?

11 Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labour?

And do you trust him, because his strength is great? and will you commit your works to him?

12 Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather the grain of your threshing floor?

And will you believe that he will return to you your seed, and bring [it] in [to] your threshing floor?

13 “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the feathers and plumage of love?

The peacock has a beautiful wing: if the stork and the ostrich conceive, [it is worthy of notice],

14 For she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust,

for [the ostrich] will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on the dust,

15 and forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild animal may trample them.

and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them.

16 She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labour is in vain, she is without fear,

She has hardened [herself] against her young ones, as though [she bereaved] not herself: she labors in vain without fear.

17 because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding.

For God has withholden wisdom from her, and not given her a portion in understanding.

18 When she lifts up herself on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.

In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider.

19 “Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?

Hast you invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror?

20 Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.

And have you clad him in perfect armor, and made his breast glorious with courage?

21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men.

He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain.

22 He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, neither does he turn back from the sword.

He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword.

23 The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin.

The bow and sword resound against him; and [his] rage will swallow up the ground:

24 He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.

and he will not believe until the trumpet sounds.

25 As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

And when the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! and afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing.

26 “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings towards 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 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, and makes his nest on high?

And does the eagle rise at your command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest,

28 On the cliff he dwells and makes his home, on the point of the cliff and the stronghold.

on a crag of a rock, and in a secret [place]?

29 From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.

Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far.

30 His young ones also suck up blood. Where the slain are, there he is.”

And his young ones roll themselves in blood, and wherever the carcasses may be, immediately they are found.