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39 Do you know when mountain goats are born?
    Have you watched wild deer give birth?
Do you know how long they carry their young?
    Do you know the time for their birth?
Do you know when they will crouch down
    and bring their young into the world?
In the wilds their young grow strong;
    they go away and don't come back.

Who gave the wild donkeys their freedom?
    Who turned them loose and let them roam?
I gave them the desert to be their home,
    and let them live on the salt plains.
They keep far away from the noisy cities,
    and no one can tame them and make them work.
The mountains are the pastures where they feed,
    where they search for anything green to eat.

Will a wild ox work for you?
    Is he willing to spend the night in your stable?
10 Can you hold one with a rope and make him plow?
    Or make him pull a harrow in your fields?
11 Can you rely on his great strength
    and expect him to do your heavy work?
12 Do you expect him to bring in your harvest
    and gather the grain from your threshing place?

13 How fast the wings of an ostrich beat!
    But no ostrich can fly like a stork.[a]
14 The ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground
    for the heat in the soil to warm them.
15 She is unaware that a foot may crush them
    or a wild animal break them.
16 She acts as if the eggs were not hers,
    and is unconcerned that her efforts were wasted.
17 It was I who made her foolish
    and did not give her wisdom.
18 But when she begins to run,[b]
    she can laugh at any horse and rider.

19 Was it you, Job, who made horses so strong
    and gave them their flowing manes?
20 Did you make them leap like locusts
    and frighten people with their snorting?
21 They eagerly paw the ground in the valley;
    they rush into battle with all their strength.
22 They do not know the meaning of fear,
    and no sword can turn them back.
23 The weapons which their riders carry
    rattle and flash in the sun.
24 Trembling with excitement, the horses race ahead;
    when the trumpet blows, they can't stand still.
25 At each blast of the trumpet they snort;
    they can smell a battle before they get near,
    and they hear the officers shouting commands.

26 Does a hawk learn from you how to fly
    when it spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Does an eagle wait for your command
    to build its nest high in the mountains?
28 It makes its home on the highest rocks
    and makes the sharp peaks its fortress.
29 From there it watches near and far
    for something to kill and eat.
30 (A)Around dead bodies the eagles gather,
    and the young eagles drink the blood.

Footnotes

  1. Job 39:13 Verse 13 in Hebrew is unclear.
  2. Job 39:18 Probable text run; Hebrew unclear.

39 “Do you know when the mountain goats(A) give birth?
    Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?(B)
Do you count the months till they bear?
    Do you know the time they give birth?(C)
They crouch down and bring forth their young;
    their labor pains are ended.
Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
    they leave and do not return.

“Who let the wild donkey(D) go free?
    Who untied its ropes?
I gave it the wasteland(E) as its home,
    the salt flats(F) as its habitat.(G)
It laughs(H) at the commotion in the town;
    it does not hear a driver’s shout.(I)
It ranges the hills(J) for its pasture
    and searches for any green thing.

“Will the wild ox(K) consent to serve you?(L)
    Will it stay by your manger(M) at night?
10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?(N)
    Will it till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on it for its great strength?(O)
    Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain
    and bring it to your threshing floor?

13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
    though they cannot compare
    with the wings and feathers of the stork.(P)
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
    and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
    that some wild animal may trample them.(Q)
16 She treats her young harshly,(R) as if they were not hers;
    she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
    or give her a share of good sense.(S)
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
    she laughs(T) at horse and rider.

19 “Do you give the horse its strength(U)
    or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust,(V)
    striking terror(W) with its proud snorting?(X)
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,(Y)
    and charges into the fray.(Z)
22 It laughs(AA) at fear, afraid of nothing;
    it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver(AB) rattles against its side,
    along with the flashing spear(AC) and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
    it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.(AD)
25 At the blast of the trumpet(AE) it snorts, ‘Aha!’
    It catches the scent of battle from afar,
    the shout of commanders and the battle cry.(AF)

26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
    and spread its wings toward the south?(AG)
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
    and build its nest on high?(AH)
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
    a rocky crag(AI) is its stronghold.
29 From there it looks for food;(AJ)
    its eyes detect it from afar.
30 Its young ones feast on blood,
    and where the slain are, there it is.”(AK)