Job 39
Modern English Version
39 “Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats produce offspring?
Or can you observe when the deer gives birth?
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill,
or do you know the time when they bring forth?
3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones,
they get rid of their labor pains.
4 Their young ones are healthy, they grow strong with grain;
they go forth and do not return to them.
5 “Who has sent out the wild donkey free?
Or who has loosed the bands of the wild donkey,
6 whose home I have made the wilderness,
and the barren land his dwelling?
7 He scorns the multitude in the city
and does not regard the shouts of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture,
and he searches after every green thing.
9 “Will the wild ox be willing to serve you
or spend the night by your manger?
10 Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes?
Or will he plow the valleys behind you?
11 Will you trust him because his strength is great?
Or will you leave your labor to him?
12 Will you trust him to bring home your grain
and gather it into your barn?
13 “Did you give the beautiful wings to the peacocks?
Or wings and feathers to the ostrich,
14 who leaves her eggs in the earth,
and warms them in dust,
15 and forgets that a 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 hers;
her labor is in vain, without concern,
17 because God has deprived her of wisdom,
nor has He imparted understanding to her.
18 When she lifts up herself on high,
she scorns the horse and his rider.
19 “Have you given the horse strength?
Have you clothed his neck with thunder?
20 Can you make him afraid like a grasshopper?
The glory of his nostrils is awesome.
21 He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength;
he goes on to meet the armed men.
22 He mocks at fear and is not frightened,
nor does he turn back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against him,
the glittering spear and the shield.
24 He devours the distance with fierceness and rage,
and he does not stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
25 At the sound of the trumpet he says, ‘Aha’;
he smells the battle afar off,
the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 “Does the hawk fly by your wisdom,
and stretch her wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle mount up at your command
and make her nest on high?
28 She dwells and remains on the rock,
upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.
29 From there she seeks the prey,
and her eyes see it from afar.
30 Her young ones also suck up blood,
and where the slain are, there she is.”
Job 39
Lexham English Bible
39 “Do you know the time when the goats of the rocks give birth?
Do you observe the doe deer’s giving birth?
2 Can you number the months they fulfill,
and do you know the time of its giving birth?
3 When they crouch, they bring forth their young ones;
they get rid of their labor pains.[a]
4 Their young ones grow strong; they grow up in the open;
they go forth and do not return to them.
5 “Who has sent forth the wild ass free?
And who has released the wild donkey’s bonds,
6 to which I have given the wilderness as its house
and the salt flat as its dwelling place?
7 It scorns the city’s turmoil;
it does not hear the driver’s shouts.
8 It explores the mountains as its pasture
and searches after every kind of green plant.
9 “Is the wild ox willing to serve you,
or will he spend the night at your feeding trough?
10 Can you tie the wild ox with its rope to a furrow,
or will it harrow the valleys after you?
11 Can you trust it because its strength is great,
or will you hand your labor over to it?
12 Can you rely on it that it will return your grain
and that it will gather it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings[b] of the female ostrich flap[c]—
are they[d] the pinions of the stork or[e] the falcon?
14 Indeed, it leaves its eggs to the earth,
and it lets them be warmed on the ground,
15 and it forgets that a foot might crush an egg,[f]
and a wild animal[g] might trample it.[h]
16 It deals cruelly with its young ones, as if they were not its own,
as if without fear that its labor were in vain,
17 because God made it forget wisdom,
and he did not give it a share in understanding.
18 When it spreads its wings aloft,[i]
it laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 “Do you give power to the horse?
Do you clothe its neck with a mane?
20 Do you make it leap like the locust?
The majesty of its snorting is terrifying.
21 They paw in the valley, and it exults with strength;
it goes out to meet the battle.
22 It laughs at danger and is not dismayed,
and it does not turn back from before[j] the sword.
23 Upon it the quiver rattles
along with the flash of the spear and the short sword.
24 With roar and rage it races over the ground,[k]
and it cannot stand still at the sound of the horn.
25 Whenever[l] a horn sounds, it says, ‘Aha!’
And it smells the battle from a distance—
the thunder of the commanders and the war cry.
26 “Does the hawk soar by your wisdom?
Does it spread its wings to the south?
27 Or does the eagle fly high at your command
and construct its nest high?
28 It lives on the rock and spends the night
on the rock point and the mountain stronghold.[m]
29 From there it spies out the prey;
its eyes look from far away.
30 And its young ones lick blood greedily,
and where the dead carcasses are, there they are.”
Footnotes
- Job 39:3 Or “deliver their fetuses”
- Job 39:13 Hebrew “wing”
- Job 39:13 Or “flaps”
- Job 39:13 Or “if,” or “or”
- Job 39:13 Hebrew “and”
- Job 39:15 Hebrew “it”; or a collective singular (“them”) referring to “eggs” in v. 14
- Job 39:15 Literally “an animal of the field”
- Job 39:15 Or a collective singular (“them”) referring to “eggs” in v. 14
- Job 39:18 Literally “in the height”
- Job 39:22 Literally “from faces of”
- Job 39:24 Or “it paws the ground”; literally “it swallows the earth/ground”
- Job 39:25 Literally “At enough”
- Job 39:28 Literally “on the tooth of the rock and the stronghold”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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