Job 39
1 Numquid nosti tempus partus ibicum in petris, vel parturientes cervas observasti?
[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 Dinumerasti menses conceptus earum, et scisti tempus partus earum?
and [if] you has have numbered the full months of their being with young, and [if] you have relieved their pangs:
3 Incurvantur ad fœtum, et pariunt, et rugitus emittunt.
and have reared their young without fear; and will you loosen their pangs?
4 Separantur filii earum, et pergunt ad pastum: egrediuntur, et non revertuntur ad eas.
Their young will break forth; they will be multiplied with offspring: [their young] will go forth, and will not return to them.
5 Quis dimisit onagrum liberum, et vincula eius quis solvit?
And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? and who loosed his bands?
6 Cui dedi in solitudine domum, et tabernacula eius in terra salsuginis.
whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts.
7 Contemnit multitudinem civitatis, clamorem exactoris non audit.
He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax-gatherer.
8 Circumspicit montes pascuæ suæ, et virentia quæque perquirit.
He will survey the mountains [as] his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing.
9 Numquid volet rhinoceros servire tibi, aut morabitur ad præsepe tuum?
And will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or to lie down at your manger?
10 Numquid alligabis rhinocerota ad arandum loro tuo? aut confringet glebas vallium post te?
And will you bind his yoke with thongs, or will he plough furrows for you in the plain?
11 Numquid fiduciam habebis in magna fortitudine eius, et derelinques ei labores tuos?
And do you trust him, because his strength is great? and will you commit your works to him?
12 Numquid credes illi quod sementem reddat tibi, et aream tuam congreget?
And will you believe that he will return to you your seed, and bring [it] in [to] your threshing floor?
13 Penna struthionis similis est pennis herodii, et accipitris.
The peacock has a beautiful wing: if the stork and the ostrich conceive, [it is worthy of notice],
14 Quando derelinquit ova sua in terra, tu forsitan in pulvere calefacies ea?
for [the ostrich] will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on the dust,
15 Obliviscitur quod pes conculcet ea, aut bestia agri conterat.
and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them.
16 Duratur ad filios suos quasi non sint sui, frustra laboravit nullo timore cogente.
She has hardened [herself] against her young ones, as though [she bereaved] not herself: she labours in vain without fear.
17 Privavit enim eam Deus sapientia, nec dedit illi intelligentiam.
For God has withholden wisdom from her, and not given her a portion in understanding.
18 Cum tempus fuerit, in altum alas erigit: deridet equum et ascensorem eius.
In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider.
19 Numquid præbebis equo fortitudinem, aut circumdabis collo eius hinnitum?
Hast you invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror?
20 Numquid suscitabis eum quasi locustas? gloria narium eius terror.
And have you clad him in perfect armour, and made his breast glorious with courage?
21 Terram ungula fodit, exultat audacter: in occursum pergit armatis.
He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain.
22 Contemnit pavorem, nec cedit gladio.
He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword.
23 Super ipsum sonabit pharetra, vibrabit hasta et clypeus.
The bow and sword resound against him; and [his] rage will swallow up the ground:
24 Fervens et fremens sorbet terram, nec reputat tubæ sonare clangorem.
and he will not believe until the trumpet sounds.
25 Ubi audierit buccinam, dicit: Vah, procul odoratur bellum, exhortationem ducum, et ululatum exercitus.
And when the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! and afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing.
26 Numquid per sapientiam tuam plumescit accipiter, expandens alas suas ad Austrum?
And does the hawk remain steady by your wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking towards the region of the south?
27 Numquid ad præceptum tuum elevabitur aquila, et in arduis ponet nidum suum?
And does the eagle rise at your command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest,
28 In petris manet, et in præruptis silicibus commoratur, atque inaccessis rupibus.
on a crag of a rock, and in a secret [place]?
29 Inde contemplatur escam, et de longe oculi eius prospiciunt,
Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far.
30 Pulli eius lambent sanguinem: et ubicumque cadaver fuerit, statim adest.
And his young ones roll themselves in blood, and wherever the carcasses may be, immediately they are found.
