Job 39

¹“Are you acquainted with the waythe mountain goats give birth?Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?

²Do you count the months they must fulfill,and do you know the time they give birth?

³They crouch, they bear their young,they bring forth the offspring they have carried.

⁴Their young grow strong, and grow up in the open;they go off, and do not return to them.

⁵Who let the wild donkey go free?Who released the bonds of the donkey,

⁶to whom I appointed the steppe for its home,the salt wastes as its dwelling place?

⁷It scorns the tumult in the town;it does not hear the shouts of a driver.

⁸It ranges the hills as its pasture,and searches after every green plant.

⁹Is the wild ox willing to be your servant?Will it spend the night at your feeding trough?

¹⁰Can you bind the wild ox to a furrow with its rope,will it till the valleys, following after you?

¹¹Will you rely on it because its strength is great?Will you commit your labor to it?

¹²Can you count on it to bring in your grain,and gather the grain to your threshing floor?

¹³“The wings of the ostrich flap with joy,but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork?

¹⁴For she leaves her eggs on the ground,and lets them be warmed on the soil.

¹⁵She forgets that a foot might crush them,or that a wild animal might trample them.

¹⁶She is harsh with her young,as if they were not hers;she is unconcernedabout the uselessness of her labor.

¹⁷For God deprived her of wisdom,and did not impart understanding to her.

¹⁸But as soon as she springs up,she laughs at the horse and its rider.

¹⁹“Do you give the horse its strength?Do you clothe its neck with a mane?

²⁰Do you make it leap like a locust?Its proud neighing is terrifying!

²¹It paws the ground in the valley,exulting mightily,it goes out to meet the weapons.

²²It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;it does not shy away from the sword.

²³On it the quiver rattles;the lance and javelin flash.

²⁴In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground;it cannot stand still when the trumpet is blown.

²⁵At the sound of the trumpet, it says, ‘Aha!’And from a distance it catches the scent of battle,the thunderous shouting of commanders,and the battle cries.

²⁶“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,and spreads its wings toward the south?

²⁷Is it at your command that the eagle soars,and builds its nest on high?

²⁸It lives on a rock and spends the night there,on a rocky crag and a fortress.

²⁹From there it spots its prey,its eyes gaze intently from a distance.

³⁰And its young ones devour the blood,and where the dead carcasses are,there it is.”