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The Lord Continues

When Do Mountain Goats Give Birth?

39 When do mountain goats
    and deer give birth?
Have you been there
    when their young are born?
* How long are they pregnant
    before they deliver?
Soon their young grow strong
and then leave
    to be on their own.

Who set wild donkeys free?
I alone help them survive
    in salty desert sand.
They stay far from crowded cities
    and refuse to be tamed.
Instead, they roam the hills,
    searching for pastureland.

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.[a]
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,[b]
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 eagles[c] to build
28     their nests on rocky cliffs,
29 where they can look down
    to spot their next meal?
30 (A) Then their young gather to feast
    wherever the victim lies.

The Lord Continues

I Am the Lord All-Powerful

*

Footnotes

  1. 39.13 young: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.
  2. 39.18 starts running: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  3. 39.27 eagles: Or “vultures.”

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)

39 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?

Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?

They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows.

Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.

Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?

Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.

He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.

The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.

Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?

10 Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?

11 Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?

12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?

13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?

14 Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,

15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.

16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not her's: her labour is in vain without fear;

17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.

18 What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.

19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?

20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.

21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.

22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.

23 The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.

24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.

25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

26 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?

27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?

28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.

29 From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.

30 Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.