Job 39

Chapter 39

The LORD’s Challenge Continues

1 “Do you know when the wild goats give birth?
Have you watched as deer are born in the wild?2 Do you know how many months they carry their young?
Are you aware of the time of their delivery?3 They crouch down to give birth to their young
and deliver their offspring.4 Their young grow up in the open fields,
then leave home and never return.5 “Who gives the wild donkey its freedom?
Who untied its ropes?6 I have placed it in the wilderness;
its home is the wasteland.7 It hates the noise of the city
and has no driver to shout at it.8 The mountains are its pastureland,
where it searches for every blade of grass.9 “Will the wild ox consent to being tamed?
Will it spend the night in your stall?10 Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow?
Will it plow a field for you?11 Given its strength, can you trust it?
Can you leave and trust the ox to do your work?12 Can you rely on it to bring home your grain
and deliver it to your threshing floor?13 “The ostrich flaps her wings grandly,
but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.14 She lays her eggs on top of the earth,
letting them be warmed in the dust.15 She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them
or a wild animal might destroy them.16 She is harsh toward her young,
as if they were not her own.
She doesn’t care if they die.17 For God has deprived her of wisdom.
He has given her no understanding.18 But whenever she jumps up to run,
she passes the swiftest horse with its rider.19 “Have you given the horse its strength
or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?20 Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust?
Its majestic snorting is terrifying!21 It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength
when it charges out to battle.22 It laughs at fear and is unafraid.
It does not run from the sword.23 The arrows rattle against it,
and the spear and javelin flash.24 It paws the ground fiercely
and rushes forward into battle when the ram’s horn blows.25 It snorts at the sound of the horn.
It senses the battle in the distance.
It quivers at the captain’s commands and the noise of battle.26 “Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar
and spread its wings toward the south?27 Is it at your command that the eagle rises
to the heights to make its nest?28 It lives on the cliffs,
making its home on a distant, rocky crag.29 From there it hunts its prey,
keeping watch with piercing eyes.30 Its young gulp down blood.
Where there’s a carcass, there you’ll find it.”

JOB 39

The [Lord] Continues

When Do Mountain Goats //Give Birth?

1 When do mountain goats
and deer give birth?
Have you been there
when their young are born?
*

2 How long are they pregnant

3 before they deliver?

4 Soon their young grow strong
and then leave
to be on their own.

5 Who set wild donkeys free?

6 I alone help them survive
in salty desert sand.

7 They stay far from crowded cities
and refuse to be tamed.

8 Instead, they roam the hills,
searching for pastureland.

9 Would a wild ox agree
to live in your barn
and labor for you?

10 Could you force him to plow
or to drag a heavy log
to smooth out the soil?

11 Can you depend on him
to use his great strength
and do your heavy work?

12 Can you trust him
to harvest your grain
or take it to your barn
from the threshing place?

An Ostrich Proudly Flaps //Her Wings

13 An ostrich proudly
flaps her wings,
but not because
she loves her young.t

14 She abandons her eggs
and lets the dusty ground
keep them warm.

15 And she doesn't seem to worry
that the feet of an animal
could crush them all.

16 She treats her eggs as though
they were not her own,
unconcerned that her work
might be for nothing.

17 I myself made her foolish
and without common sense.

18 But once she starts running, t
she laughs at a rider
on the fastest horse.

Did You Give Horses //Their Strength?

19 Did you give horses their strength
and the flowing hair
along their necks?

20 Did you make them able
to jump like grasshoppers
or to frighten people
with their snorting?

21 Before horses are ridden
into battle,
they paw at the ground,
proud of their strength.

22 Laughing at fear, they rush
toward the fighting,

23 while the weapons of their riders
rattle and flash in the sun.

24 Unable to stand still,
they gallop eagerly into battle
when trumpets blast.

25 Stirred by the distant smells
and sounds of war, they snort
in reply to the trumpet.

26 Did you teach hawks to fly south
for the winter?
*

27 Did you train eaglest to build

28 their nests on rocky cliffs,

29 where they can look down
to spot their next meal?

30  t Then their young gather to feast
wherever the victim lies.