Job 39
Holman Christian Standard Bible
39 Do you know when mountain goats give birth?
Have you watched the deer in labor?
2 Can you count the months they are pregnant[a]
so you can know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down to give birth to their young;
they deliver their newborn.[b]
4 Their offspring are healthy and grow up in the open field.
They leave and do not return.[c]
5 Who set the wild donkey free?
Who released the swift donkey from its harness?
6 I made the wilderness(A) its home,
and the salty(B) wasteland its dwelling.
7 It scoffs at the noise of the village
and never hears the shouts of a driver.(C)
8 It roams the mountains for its pastureland,
searching for anything green.
9 Would the wild ox be willing to serve you?
Would it spend the night by your feeding trough?
10 Can you hold the wild ox(D) to a furrow by its harness?
Will it plow the valleys behind you?
11 Can you depend on it because its strength is great?
Would you leave it to do your hard work?
12 Can you trust the wild ox to harvest your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but are her feathers and plumage like the stork’s?[d](E)
14 She abandons her eggs on the ground
and lets them be warmed in the sand.
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them
or that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own,
with no fear that her labor may have been in vain.
17 For God has deprived her of wisdom;
He has not endowed her with understanding.(F)
18 When she proudly[e] spreads her wings,
she laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 Do you give strength to the horse?
Do you adorn his neck with a mane?[f]
20 Do you make him leap like a locust?
His proud snorting fills one with terror.
21 He paws[g] in the valley and rejoices in his strength;
He charges into battle.[h]
22 He laughs at fear, since he is afraid of nothing;
he does not run from the sword.
23 A quiver rattles at his side,
along with a flashing spear and a lance.[i]
24 He charges ahead[j] with trembling rage;
he cannot stand still at the trumpet’s sound.
25 When the trumpet blasts, he snorts defiantly.[k]
He smells the battle from a distance;
he hears the officers’ shouts and the battle cry.
26 Does the hawk take flight by your understanding
and spread its wings to the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and make its nest(G) on high?
28 It lives on a cliff where it spends the night;
its stronghold is on a rocky crag.
29 From there it searches for prey;(H)
its eyes penetrate the distance.
30 Its brood gulps down blood,
and where the slain are, it is there.(I)
Footnotes
- Job 39:2 Lit months they fulfill
- Job 39:3 Or they send away their labor pains
- Job 39:4 Lit return to them
- Job 39:13 Hb obscure
- Job 39:18 Hb obscure
- Job 39:19 Hb obscure
- Job 39:21 LXX, Syr; MT reads digs
- Job 39:21 Lit He goes out to meet the weapon
- Job 39:23 Or scimitar
- Job 39:24 Lit He swallows the ground
- Job 39:25 Lit he says, “Aha!”
Job 39
Common English Bible
Mountain goat and doe
39 Do you know when mountain goats give birth;
do you observe the birthing of does?
2 Can you count the months of pregnancy;
do you know when they give birth?
3 They crouch, split open for their young,
send forth their offspring.
4 Their young are healthy; they grow up in the open country,
leave and never return.
Wild donkey
5 Who freed the wild donkey,
loosed the ropes of the onager
6 to whom I gave the desert as home,
his dwelling place in the salt flats?
7 He laughs at the clamor of the town,
doesn’t hear the driver’s shout,
8 searches the hills for food
and seeks any green sprout.
Wild ox
9 Will the wild ox agree to be your slave,
or will it spend the night in your crib?
10 Can you bind it with a rope to a plowed row;
will it plow the valley behind you?
11 Will you trust it because its strength is great
so that you can leave your work to it?
12 Can you rely on it to bring back your grain
to gather into your threshing floor?
Ostrich
13 The ostrich’s wings flap joyously,
but her wings and plumage are like a stork.
14 She leaves her eggs on the earth,
lets them warm in the dust,
15 then forgets that a foot may crush them
or a wild animal trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly as if they were not hers,
without worrying that her labor might be in vain;
17 God didn’t endow her with sense,
didn’t give her some good sense.
18 When she flaps her wings high,
she laughs at horse and rider.
Horse
19 Did you give strength to the horse,
clothe his neck with a mane,
20 cause him to leap like a locust,
his majestic snorting, a fright?
21 He[a] paws in the valley, prances proudly,
charges at battle weapons,
22 laughs at fear, unafraid.
He doesn’t turn away from the sword;
23 a quiver of arrows flies by him,
flashing spear and dagger.
24 Excitedly, trembling, he swallows the ground;
can’t stand still at a trumpet’s blast.
25 At a trumpet’s sound, he says, “Aha!”
smells the battle from afar,
hears[b] officers’ shouting and the battle cry.
Hawk and eagle
26 Is it due to your understanding that the hawk flies,
spreading its wings to the south?
27 Or at your command does the eagle soar,
the vulture build a nest on high?
28 They dwell on an outcropping of rock,
their fortress on rock’s edge.
29 From there they search for food;
their eyes notice it from afar,
30 and their young lap up blood;
where carcasses lie, there they are.
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