Job 39

Legacy Standard Bible

39 “Do you know the time the ^[a](A)mountain goats give birth?
Do you keep watch over the calving of the ^(B)deer?
² Can you count the months they fulfill,
Or do you know the time they give birth?
³ They kneel down; they bring forth their young;
They send out their labor pains.
⁴ Their children become strong; they grow up in the open field;
They leave and do not return to them.

⁵ “Who sent out the ^(C)wild donkey free?
And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
⁶ For whom I have set ^(D)the desert plain as a home
And the salt land as his dwelling place?
⁷ He laughs at the tumult of the city;
The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.
⁸ He explores the mountains for his pasture
And searches after every green thing.
⁹ Will the ^(E)wild ox consent to serve you,
Or will he spend the night at your manger?
¹⁰ Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ^[b]ropes,
Or will he harrow the valleys after you?
¹¹ Will you trust him because his power is great
And leave your labor to him?
¹² Will you believe him that he will return your seed of grain
And gather it from your threshing floor?

¹³ “The ostriches’ wings flap joyously
But are they the pinion and plumage of a ^[c]stork?
¹⁴ For she leaves her eggs to the earth
And warms them in the dust,
¹⁵ And she forgets that a foot may crush ^[d]them,
Or that a beast of the field may trample ^[e]them.
¹⁶ She treats her children ^(F)cruelly, as if they were not hers;
Though her labor be empty, she is without dread,
¹⁷ Because God has made her forget wisdom,
And has not given her a share of understanding.
¹⁸ When she raises herself up high,
She laughs at the horse and his rider.

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
²⁰ Do you make him ^(G)leap like the locust?
His splendid ^(H)snorting is terrible.
^21 [f]He paws in the valley and rejoices in his power;
He ^(I)goes out to meet the weapons.
²² He laughs at dread and is not dismayed;
And he does not turn back from the sword.
²³ The quiver rattles against him,
The flashing spear and javelin.
²⁴ With shaking and rage he ^[g]races over the ground,
And he does not ^[h]stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
²⁵ As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’
And he scents the battle from afar,
And the thunder of the commanders and the shout of war.

²⁶ “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,
Stretching his wings toward the south?
²⁷ Is it at your ^[i]command that the eagle goes on high
And raises ^(J)his nest high?
²⁸ On the cliff he dwells and lodges,
Upon the rocky crag, a fortress.
²⁹ From there he ^[j](K)spies out food;
His eyes see it from afar.
³⁰ His young ones also suck up blood;
And ^(L)where the slain are, there is he.”