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?

“Have you known the time of The bearing of the wild goats of the rock? Do you mark the bringing forth of does?

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

Do you number the months they fulfill? And have you 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, They bring forth their young ones safely, They cast forth their pangs.

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

Their young ones are safe, 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 has sent forth the wild donkey free? Indeed, who opened the bands of the wild donkey?

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 laughs at the multitude of a city, He does not hear the cries of an exactor.

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

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

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 wild ox willing to serve you? Does he lodge by your crib?

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

Do you bind a wild ox in a furrow [with] his thick band? Does he harrow valleys after you?

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]?

Do you trust in him because his power [is] great? And do you leave your labor to him?

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

Do you trust in him That he brings back your seed, And gathers [it to] your threshing-floor?

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 crying ostriches exults, but as a pinion and feather of a stork?

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 leaves her eggs on the earth, And she warms them on the dust,

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

And she forgets that a foot may press it, And a beast of the field treads 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.

It has hardened her young ones without her, Her labor [is] in vain, without fear.

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

For God has caused her to forget wisdom, And He has 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 she lifts herself up on high, She laughs at the horse and 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?

Do you give might to the horse? Do you 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.

Do you cause him to rush as a locust? The splendor 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 rejoices in power, He goes forth to meet the armor.

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 laughs at fear, and is not frightened, And he does not turn 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].

Quiver rattles against him, The flame of a spear, and a javelin.

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

He swallows the ground with trembling and rage, And does not remain steadfast Because of the sound of a horn.

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 horns he says, Aha, And from afar he smells 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 your understanding does a hawk fly? Does he spread 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 your command does an eagle go up high? Or lift 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].

He inhabits a rock, Indeed, he lodges 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 there he has sought food, His eyes look attentively to a far-off place,

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

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