Job 39
Revised Standard Version
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats bring forth?
Do you observe the calving of the hinds?
2 Can you number the months that they fulfil,
and do you know the time when they bring forth,
3 when they 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 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,
6 to whom I have given the steppe for his home,
and 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 the wild ox willing to serve you?
Will he spend the night at your crib?
10 Can you bind 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,
and bring your grain to your threshing floor?[a]
13 “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly;
but are they the pinions and plumage of love?[b]
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 deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;
though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear;
17 because God has made her forget wisdom,
and given her no share in understanding.
18 When she rouses herself to flee,[c]
she laughs at the horse and his rider.
19 “Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with strength?[d]
20 Do you make him leap like the locust?
His majestic snorting is terrible.
21 He paws[e] in the valley, and exults in his strength;
he 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 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 wisdom 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 nest on high?
28 On the rock he dwells and makes his home
in the fastness of the rocky crag.
29 Thence he spies out the prey;
his eyes behold it afar off.
30 His young ones suck up blood;
and where the slain are, there is he.”
Job 39
New Century Version
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the deer gives birth to her fawn?
2 Do you count the months until they give birth
and know the right time for them to give birth?
3 They lie down, their young are born,
and then the pain of giving birth is over.
4 Their young ones grow big and strong in the wild country.
Then they leave their homes and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6 I am the one who gave the donkey the desert as its home;
I gave it the desert lands as a place to live.
7 The wild donkey laughs at the confusion in the city,
and it does not hear the drivers shout.
8 It roams the hills looking for pasture,
looking for anything green to eat.
9 “Will the wild ox agree to serve you
and stay by your feeding box at night?
10 Can you hold it to the plowed row with a harness
so it will plow the valleys for you?
11 Will you depend on the wild ox for its great strength
and leave your heavy work for it to do?
12 Can you trust the ox to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap happily,
but they are not like the feathers of the stork.
14 The ostrich lays its eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand.
15 It does not stop to think that a foot might step on them and crush them;
it does not care that some animal might walk on them.
16 The ostrich is cruel to its young, as if they were not even its own.
It does not care that its work is for nothing,
17 because God did not give the ostrich wisdom;
God did not give it a share of good sense.
18 But when the ostrich gets up to run, it is so fast
that it laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 “Job, are you the one who gives the horse its strength
or puts a flowing mane on its neck?
20 Do you make the horse jump like a locust?
It scares people with its proud snorting.
21 It paws wildly, enjoying its strength,
and charges into battle.
22 It laughs at fear and is afraid of nothing;
it does not run away from the sword.
23 The bag of arrows rattles against the horse’s side,
along with the flashing spears and swords.
24 With great excitement, the horse races over the ground;
and it cannot stand still when it hears the trumpet.
25 When the trumpet blows, the horse snorts, ‘Aha!’
It smells the battle from far away;
it hears the shouts of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Is it through your wisdom that the hawk flies
and spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Are you the one that commands the eagle to fly
and build its nest so high?
28 It lives on a high cliff and stays there at night;
the rocky peak is its protected place.
29 From there it looks for its food;
its eyes can see it from far away.
30 Its young eat blood,
and where there is something dead, the eagle is there.”
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
