Job 39
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe the calving of the deer?(A)
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill,
and do you know the time when they give birth,
3 when they crouch to give birth to their offspring
and are delivered of their young?(B)
4 Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;
they go forth and do not return to them.
5 “Who has let the wild ass go free?
Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,(C)
6 to which I have given the steppe for its home,
the salt land for its dwelling place?(D)
7 It scorns the tumult of the city;
it does not hear the shouts of the driver.
8 It ranges the mountains as its pasture,
and it searches after every green thing.
9 “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
Will it spend the night at your crib?(E)
10 Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes,
or will it harrow the valleys after you?
11 Will you depend on it because its strength is great,
and will you hand over your labor to it?
12 Do you have faith in it that it will return
and bring your grain to your threshing floor?[a]
13 “The ostrich’s wings flap wildly,
though its pinions lack plumage.[b]
14 For it leaves its eggs to the earth
and lets them be warmed on the ground,
15 forgetting that a foot may crush them
and that a wild animal may trample them.
16 It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own;
though its labor should be in vain, yet it has no fear;(F)
17 because God has made it forget wisdom
and given it no share in understanding.(G)
18 When it spreads its plumes aloft,[c]
it laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its might?
Do you clothe its neck with mane?(H)
20 Do you make it leap like the locust?
Its majestic snorting is terrible.(I)
21 It paws[d] violently, exults mightily;
it goes out to meet the weapons.(J)
22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
it does not turn back from the sword.
23 Upon it rattle the quiver,
the flashing spear, and the javelin.
24 With fierceness and rage it swallows the ground;
it cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.(K)
25 When the trumpet sounds, it says ‘Aha!’
From a distance it smells the battle,
the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.(L)
26 “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars
and spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
and makes its nest on high?(M)
28 It lives on the rock and makes its home
in the fastness of the rocky crag.
29 From there it spies the prey;
its eyes see it from far away.(N)
30 Its young ones suck up blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”(O)
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.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible