Job 39

¹Do you know at what time the wild goats have given birth among the rocks, or do you observe the deer when they go into labor

²Have you numbered the months since their conception, and do you know at what time they gave birth

³They bend themselves for their offspring, and they give birth, and they emit roars

⁴Their young are weaned and go out to feed; they depart and do not return to them

⁵Who has set the wild ass free, and who has released his bonds

⁶I have given a house in solitude to him, and his tabernacle is in the salted land

⁷He despises the crowded city; he does not pay attention to the bellow of the tax collector

⁸He looks around the mountains of his pasture, and he searches everywhere for green plants

⁹Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve you, and will he remain in your stall

¹⁰Can you detain the rhinoceros with your harness to plough for you, and will he loosen the soil of the furrows behind you

¹¹Will you put your faith in his great strength, and delegate your labors to him

¹²Will you trust him to return to you the seed, and to gather it on your drying floor

¹³The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk

¹⁴When she leaves eggs behind in the earth, will you perhaps warm them in the dust

¹⁵She forgets that feet may trample them, or that the beasts of the field may shatter them

¹⁶She is hardened against her young, as if they were not hers; she has labored in vain, with no fear compelling her

¹⁷For God has deprived her of wisdom; neither has he given her understanding

¹⁸Yet, when the time is right, she raises her wings on high; she ridicules the horse and his rider

¹⁹Will you supply strength to the horse, or envelope his throat with neighing

²⁰Will you alarm him as the locusts do? His panic is revealed by the display of his nostrils

²¹He digs at the earth with his hoof; he jumps around boldly; he advances to meet armed men

²²He despises fear; he does not turn away from the sword

²³Above him, the quiver rattles, the spear and the shield shake

²⁴Seething and raging, he drinks up the earth; neither does he pause when the blast of the trumpet sounds

²⁵When he hears the bugle, he says, “Ha!” He smells the battle from a distance, the exhortation of the officers, and the battle cry of the soldiers

²⁶Does the hawk grow feathers by means of your wisdom, spreading her wings towards the south

²⁷Will the eagle lift herself up at your command and make her nest in steep places

²⁸She dwells among the rocks, and she lingers among broken boulders and inaccessible cliffs

²⁹From there, she looks for food, and her eyes catch sight of it from far away

³⁰Her young will drink blood, and wherever the carcass will be, she is there immediately

³¹And the Lord continued, and he said to Job

³²Will he who contends with God be so easily silenced? Certainly, he who argues with God must also respond to him

³³Then Job answered the Lord, saying

³⁴What could I possibly answer, since I have been speaking thoughtlessly? I will place my hand over my mouth

³⁵One thing I have spoken, which I wish I had not said; and another, to which I will add no more