איוב 39

1 הידעת--עת לדת יעלי-סלע חלל אילות תשמר

[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 תספר ירחים תמלאנה וידעת עת לדתנה

and [if] you has have numbered the full months of their being with young, and [if] you have relieved their pangs:

3 תכרענה ילדיהן תפלחנה חבליהם תשלחנה

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

4 יחלמו בניהם ירבו בבר יצאו ולא-שבו למו

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

5 מי-שלח פרא חפשי ומסרות ערוד מי פתח

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

6 אשר-שמתי ערבה ביתו ומשכנותיו מלחה

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

7 ישחק להמון קריה תשאות נגש לא ישמע

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

8 יתור הרים מרעהו ואחר כל-ירוק ידרוש

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

9 היאבה רים עבדך אם-ילין על-אבוסך

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

10 התקשר-רים בתלם עבתו אם-ישדד עמקים אחריך

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

11 התבטח-בו כי-רב כחו ותעזב אליו יגיעך

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

12 התאמין בו כי-ישוב (ישיב) זרעך וגרנך יאסף

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

13 כנף-רננים נעלסה אם-אברה חסידה ונצה

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

14 כי-תעזב לארץ בציה ועל-עפר תחמם

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

15 ותשכח כי-רגל תזורה וחית השדה תדושה

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

16 הקשיח בניה ללא-לה לריק יגיעה בלי-פחד

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

17 כי-השה אלוה חכמה ולא-חלק לה בבינה

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

18 כעת במרום תמריא תשחק לסוס ולרכבו

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

19 התתן לסוס גבורה התלביש צוארו רעמה

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

20 התרעישנו כארבה הוד נחרו אימה

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

21 יחפרו בעמק וישיש בכח יצא לקראת-נשק

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

22 ישחק לפחד ולא יחת ולא-ישוב מפני-חרב

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

23 עליו תרנה אשפה להב חנית וכידון

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

24 ברעש ורגז יגמא-ארץ ולא-יאמין כי-קול שופר

and he will not believe until the trumpet sounds.

25 בדי שפר יאמר האח-- ומרחוק יריח מלחמה רעם שרים ותרועה

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

26 המבינתך יאבר-נץ יפרש כנפו לתימן

And does the hawk remain steady by your wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking toward the region of the south?

27 אם-על-פיך יגביה נשר וכי ירים קנו

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

28 סלע ישכן ויתלנן-- על שן-סלע ומצודה

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

29 משם חפר-אכל למרחוק עיניו יביטו

Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far.

30 ואפרחו יעלעו-דם ובאשר חללים שם הוא

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