Job 39-40

English Standard Version

39 “Do you know when ^(A)the mountain goats give birth?
    Do you observe ^(B)the calving of the does?
² Can you number the months that they fulfill,
    and do you know the time when they give birth,
³ when they ^(C)crouch, bring forth their offspring,
    and are delivered of their young?
⁴ Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;
    they go out and ^(D)do not return to them.

⁵ “Who has let the wild donkey go free?
    Who has ^(E)loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
⁶ to whom I have given ^(F)the arid plain for his home
    and ^(G)the salt land for his dwelling place?
⁷ He scorns the tumult of the city;
    he hears not the shouts of the driver.
⁸ He ranges the mountains as his pasture,
    and he searches after every green thing.

⁹ “Is ^(H)the wild ox willing to serve you?
    Will he spend the night at your ^(I)manger?
¹⁰ Can you bind ^(J)him in the furrow with ropes,
    or will he harrow the valleys after you?
¹¹ Will you depend on him because his strength is great,
    and will you leave to him your labor?
¹² Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain
    and gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³ “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,
    but are they the pinions and plumage of love?^[a]
14 For she leaves her eggs to the earth
    and lets them be warmed on the ground,
¹⁵ forgetting that a foot may crush them
    and that the wild beast may trample them.
¹⁶ She ^(K)deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;
    though her ^(L)labor be in vain, yet she has no fear,
¹⁷ because God has made her forget wisdom
    and ^(M)given her no share in understanding.
¹⁸ When she rouses herself to flee,^[b]
    she laughs at the horse and his rider.

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse his might?
    Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
²⁰ Do you make him leap like the locust?
    His majestic ^(N)snorting is terrifying.
²¹ He paws^[c] in the valley and exults in his strength;
    he ^(O)goes out to meet the weapons.
²² He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
    he does not turn back from the sword.
²³ Upon him rattle the quiver,
    the flashing spear, and the javelin.
²⁴ With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground;
    he cannot stand still at ^(P)the sound of the trumpet.
²⁵ When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’
    He smells the battle from afar,
    the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

²⁶ “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars
    and spreads his wings toward the south?
²⁷ Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
    and makes his ^(Q)nest on high?
²⁸ On the rock he dwells and makes his home,
    on ^(R)the rocky crag and stronghold.
²⁹ From there he spies out the prey;
    his eyes behold it from far away.
³⁰ His young ones suck up blood,
    and ^(S)where the slain are, there is he.”

² “Shall a faultfinder ^(U)contend with the Almighty?
    He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

⁴ “Behold, I am ^(V)of small account; what shall I answer you?
    ^(W)I lay my hand on my mouth.
⁵ I have spoken ^(X)once, and I will not answer;
    ^(Y)twice, but I will proceed no further.”

^7 (AA)“Dress for action^[d] like a man;
    ^(AB)I will question you, and you make it known to me.
⁸ Will you even put me in the wrong?
    Will you condemn me that ^(AC)you may be in the right?
⁹ Have you ^(AD)an arm like God,
    and can you thunder with ^(AE)a voice like his?

¹⁰ “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
    ^(AF)clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
¹¹ Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
    and look on everyone who is ^(AG)proud and abase him.
¹² Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
    and ^(AH)tread down the wicked ^(AI)where they stand.
^13 (AJ)Hide them all in ^(AK)the dust together;
    bind their faces in the world below.^[e]
14 Then will I also acknowledge to you
    that your own ^(AL)right hand can save you.

¹⁵ “Behold, Behemoth,^[f]
    which I made as I made you;
    he eats ^(AM)grass like an ox.
¹⁶ Behold, his strength in his loins,
    and his power in the muscles of his belly.
¹⁷ He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
    the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
¹⁸ His bones are tubes of bronze,
    his limbs like bars of iron.

¹⁹ “He is ^(AN)the first of ^(AO)the works^[g] of God;
    let him who made him bring near his sword!
²⁰ For the mountains yield food for him
    where all the wild beasts play.
²¹ Under the lotus plants he lies,
    in the shelter of ^(AP)the reeds and in the marsh.
²² For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
    the willows of the brook surround him.
²³ Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
    he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
²⁴ Can one take him by his eyes,^[h]
    or pierce his nose with a snare?