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Mountain goat and doe

39 Do you know when mountain goats give birth;
    do you observe the birthing of does?
Can you count the months of pregnancy;
    do you know when they give birth?
They crouch, split open for their young,
    send forth their offspring.
Their young are healthy; they grow up in the open country,
    leave and never return.

Wild donkey

Who freed the wild donkey,
        loosed the ropes of the onager
    to whom I gave the desert as home,
        his dwelling place in the salt flats?
He laughs at the clamor of the town,
        doesn’t hear the driver’s shout,
    searches the hills for food
        and seeks any green sprout.

Wild ox

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.

The Lord speaks and Job answers

40 The Lord continued to respond to Job:

Will the one who disputes with the Almighty correct him?
    God’s instructor must answer him.
Job responded to the Lord:
Look, I’m of little worth. What can I answer you?
    I’ll put my hand over my mouth.
I have spoken once, I won’t answer;
    twice, I won’t do it again.

A challenge from the Lord

The Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:
Prepare yourself like a man;
    I will interrogate you, and you will respond to me.
Would you question my justice,
    deem me guilty so you can be innocent?
Or do you have an arm like God;
    can you thunder with a voice like him?
10 Adorn yourself with splendor and majesty;
    clothe yourself with honor and esteem.
11 Unleash your raging anger;
    look on all the proud and humble them.
12 Look on all the proud and debase them;
    trample the wicked in their place.
13 Hide them together in the dust;
    bind their faces in a hidden place.
14 Then I, even I, will praise you,
    for your strong hand has delivered you.

Behemoth

15 Look at Behemoth, whom I made along with you;
    he eats grass like cattle.
16 Look, his strength is in his thighs,
    his power in stomach muscles.
17 He stiffens his tail like a cedar;
    the tendons in his thighs are tightly woven.
18 His bones are like bronze tubes,
    his limbs like iron bars.
19 He is the first of God’s acts;
    only his maker can come near him with a sword.
20 Indeed, the hills bring him tribute,
    places where all the wild animals play.
21 He lies under the lotuses,
    under the cover of reed and marsh.
22 The lotuses screen him with shade;
    poplars of the stream surround him.
23 If the river surges, he doesn’t hurry;
    he is confident even though the Jordan gushes into his mouth.
24 Can he be seized by his eyes?
    Can anyone pierce his nose by hooks?

Footnotes

  1. Job 39:21 Or they
  2. Job 39:25 Heb lacks hears.

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)

40 The Lord said to Job:(AL)

“Will the one who contends with the Almighty(AM) correct him?(AN)
    Let him who accuses God answer him!”(AO)

Then Job answered the Lord:

“I am unworthy(AP)—how can I reply to you?
    I put my hand over my mouth.(AQ)
I spoke once, but I have no answer(AR)
    twice, but I will say no more.”(AS)

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:(AT)

“Brace yourself like a man;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.(AU)

“Would you discredit my justice?(AV)
    Would you condemn me to justify yourself?(AW)
Do you have an arm like God’s,(AX)
    and can your voice(AY) thunder like his?(AZ)
10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
    and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.(BA)
11 Unleash the fury of your wrath,(BB)
    look at all who are proud and bring them low,(BC)
12 look at all who are proud(BD) and humble them,(BE)
    crush(BF) the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all in the dust together;(BG)
    shroud their faces in the grave.(BH)
14 Then I myself will admit to you
    that your own right hand can save you.(BI)

15 “Look at Behemoth,
    which I made(BJ) along with you
    and which feeds on grass like an ox.(BK)
16 What strength(BL) it has in its loins,
    what power in the muscles of its belly!(BM)
17 Its tail sways like a cedar;
    the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.(BN)
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
    its limbs(BO) like rods of iron.(BP)
19 It ranks first among the works of God,(BQ)
    yet its Maker(BR) can approach it with his sword.(BS)
20 The hills bring it their produce,(BT)
    and all the wild animals play(BU) nearby.(BV)
21 Under the lotus plants it lies,
    hidden among the reeds(BW) in the marsh.(BX)
22 The lotuses conceal it in their shadow;
    the poplars by the stream(BY) surround it.
23 A raging river(BZ) does not alarm it;
    it is secure, though the Jordan(CA) should surge against its mouth.
24 Can anyone capture it by the eyes,
    or trap it and pierce its nose?(CB)