Job 39

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¹Have you knowledge of the rock-goats? or do you see the roes giving birth to their young?

²Is the number of their months fixed by you? or is the time when they give birth ordered by you?

³They are bent down, they give birth to their young, they let loose the fruit of their body.

⁴Their young ones are strong, living in the open country; they go out and do not come back again.

⁵Who has let the ass of the fields go free? or made loose the bands of the loud-voiced beast?

⁶To whom I have given the waste land for a heritage, and the salt land as a living-place.

⁷He makes sport of the noise of the town; the voice of the driver does not come to his ears;

⁸He goes looking for his grass-lands in the mountains, searching out every green thing.

⁹Will the ox of the mountains be your servant? or is his night's resting-place by your food-store?

¹⁰Will he be pulling your plough with cords, turning up the valleys after you?

¹¹Will you put your faith in him, because his strength is great? will you give the fruit of your work into his care?

¹²Will you be looking for him to come back, and get in your seed to the crushing-floor?

¹³Is the wing of the ostrich feeble, or is it because she has no feathers,

¹⁴That she puts her eggs on the earth, warming them in the dust,

¹⁵Without a thought that they may be crushed by the foot, and broken by the beasts of the field?

¹⁶She is cruel to her young ones, as if they were not hers; her work is to no purpose; she has no fear.

¹⁷For God has taken wisdom from her mind, and given her no measure of knowledge.

¹⁸When she is shaking her wings on high, she makes sport of the horse and of him who is seated on him.

¹⁹Do you give strength to the horse? is it by your hand that his neck is clothed with power?

²⁰Is it through you that he is shaking like a locust, in the pride of his loud-sounding breath?

²¹He is stamping with joy in the valley; he makes sport of fear.

²²In his strength he goes out against the arms of war, turning not away from the sword.

²³The bow is sounding against him; he sees the shining point of spear and arrow.

²⁴Shaking with passion, he is biting the earth; he is not able to keep quiet at the sound of the horn;

²⁵When it comes to his ears he says, Aha! He is smelling the fight from far off, and hearing the thunder of the captains, and the war-cries.

²⁶Is it through your knowledge that the hawk takes his flight, stretching out his wings to the south?

²⁷Or is it by your orders that the eagle goes up, and makes his resting-place on high?

²⁸On the rock is his house, and on the mountain-top his strong place.

²⁹From there he is watching for food; his eye sees it far off.

³⁰His young have blood for their drink, and where the dead bodies are, there is he to be seen.

Job 39

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

²Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they give birth?

³They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, they end their labor pains.

⁴Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go forth, and do not return again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

²⁶"Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south?

²⁷Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, and makes his nest on high?

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

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

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