Job 39
EasyEnglish Bible
God continues to ask Job questions[a]
39 ‘Job, do you know that time when the goats on the mountains give birth?
Do you watch the wild deer when their babies are born?
2 Can you count the number of months that these animals are pregnant?
How long must they wait until they give birth?
3 They bend down low to the ground.
They give birth to the babies that they have carried inside them.
4 The young animals grow
and they become strong in the fields.
Then they leave their parents
and they do not return to them.
5 Did you send out the wild donkeys
to go wherever they want?
6 No! It was me who gave them the desert as their home.
I let them live in places where the ground has salt.
7 They stay far away from the busy cities.
They do not allow anyone to make them work.
8 Instead, they live on the hills,
where they find fresh plants to eat.
9 Can you tell a wild ox to work for you?
No! At night, it will not stay to feed at your farm.
10 It will not let you tie it to a plough.
It will not agree to prepare your fields in the valleys.
11 A wild ox is very strong.
But you cannot trust it to help you with your difficult work.
12 It will not help you to bring in your harvest of grain.
It will not take the grain to your threshing floor.
13 When an ostrich is happy,
it waves its wings.
But it cannot use its wings to fly,
as a stork can do.
14 A mother ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground.
She lets the sand cause them to be warm.
15 She does not realize that people or wild animals
might break the eggs with their feet.
16 She does not take care of her babies,
as if they did not belong to her.
She does not worry that all her work might be useless.
17 This is because I did not give wisdom to ostriches.
I did not give them minds that understand things.
18 But when an ostrich begins to run,
it can run very fast.
It can run faster than a horse
and someone who rides on it.
19 Did you, Job, give horses their strength?
Did you give them the long hair that they have on their necks?
20 You did not make horses able to jump like locusts.
They frighten people when they blow air out through their noses.
21 They stamp their feet on the ground,
as they prepare to go to a battle.
They are ready to go and attack the enemy.
22 A horse is brave and it is not afraid of anything.
It does not run away from the enemy's weapons.
23 The soldier who is riding it
has his arrows ready at the horse's side.
Swords and spears shine brightly in the sun.
24 The horse shakes with joy
as it runs to the battle.
When the battle trumpet makes its noise,
the horse wants to run even faster![b]
25 When it hears the sound of the trumpet,
it makes a happy noise.
From far away, it recognizes the smell of the battle.
It hears the army officers as they shout their commands.
26 Was it your wisdom, Job, that taught hawks how to fly?
No! You could not teach them to fly towards the south in winter.
27 Do eagles wait for your command
to fly high into the sky?
No! You could not teach them how to build their nests
high up in the mountains.
28 They live among the highest rocks.
That is where they stay at night.
They are safe on the sharp rocks.
29 From the high rocks,
eagles look for their food.
They see small animals far away,
that they can catch and eat.
30 They come together around the bodies of dead animals.
The young eagles drink the blood.’
Footnotes
- 39:1 God continues to ask Job questions. He knows that Job must answer ‘No’ to these questions. Job does not know everything about all the animals that God has made and how they live. God is showing Job that he, God, is the one who knows about all these things. So God knows what is good and right.
- 39:24 A soldier would make a noise with a trumpet when the battle was ready to start. Then all the soldiers would know that it was the time for them to attack their enemy.
Job 39
La Bible du Semeur
39 Connais-tu le moment ╵où les chamois enfantent ?
Et as-tu observé ╵les biches en travail ?
2 As-tu compté combien de mois ╵dure leur gestation ?
Et connais-tu l’époque ╵où elles mettent bas,
3 quand elles s’accroupissent, ╵déposent leurs petits
et sont délivrées des douleurs ?
4 Leurs faons se fortifient, ╵grandissant en plein air
et ils s’en vont loin d’elles ╵pour ne plus revenir.
5 Qui a laissé l’onagre ╵courir en liberté ?
Qui a rompu les liens ╵qui retenaient l’âne sauvage ?
6 Moi je lui ai donné ╵le désert pour demeure
et des plateaux salés[a] ╵pour résidence.
7 Il ne veut rien savoir ╵des villes populeuses,
et il n’entend pas les cris ╵du conducteur de l’âne.
8 Il parcourt les montagnes ╵pour trouver sa pâture,
à la recherche de toute verdure.
9 L’aurochs[b] daignera-t-il ╵se mettre à ton service ?
Passera-t-il ses nuits ╵auprès de ta mangeoire ?
10 Lui feras-tu suivre un sillon ╵en l’attachant avec des cordes ?
Va-t-il traîner la herse ╵derrière toi dans les vallons ?
11 Mettras-tu ta confiance ╵dans sa force extraordinaire ?
Et lui remettras-tu ╵le soin de tes travaux ?
12 Compteras-tu sur lui ╵pour rapporter ton grain
et l’amasser ╵sur l’aire de battage ?
13 Les ailes de l’autruche ╵se déploient avec joie,
mais son aile et ses plumes ╵ne sont pas comparables ╵à celles des cigognes.
14 Or l’autruche abandonne ╵ses œufs dans la poussière,
et laisse au sable chaud ╵le soin de les couver,
15 ne pensant pas à ceux ╵qui marcheraient dessus,
aux animaux sauvages ╵qui les piétineraient.
16 Elle est dure pour ses petits ╵comme s’ils n’étaient pas les siens,
et elle ne s’inquiète pas ╵d’avoir peiné en vain.
17 Pourquoi ? Parce que Dieu ╵l’a privée de sagesse,
et qu’il ne lui a pas donné ╵l’intelligence.
18 Mais qu’elle se redresse ╵et prenne son élan,
pour elle c’est un jeu ╵de laisser derrière elle ╵cheval et cavalier.
19 Serait-ce toi qui donnes ╵la puissance au cheval ?
Ou est-ce toi qui pares ╵son cou d’une crinière ?
20 Ou le fais-tu bondir ╵comme la sauterelle ?
Son fier hennissement ╵inspire la frayeur !
21 Dans le vallon, il piaffe, ╵tout joyeux de sa force.
Le voilà qui s’élance ╵en plein dans la mêlée.
22 Il se rit de la peur ╵et ne s’effraie de rien.
Il ne recule pas ╵en face de l’épée,
23 lorsqu’au-dessus de lui ╵cliquette le carquois,
la lance étincelante ╵ou bien le javelot.
24 Tout frémissant d’ardeur, ╵il dévore l’espace,
il ne tient plus en place ╵dès qu’il a entendu ╵le son du cor.
25 Dès qu’il entend la charge, ╵il hennit : « En avant »,
lorsqu’il est loin encore, ╵il flaire la bataille,
la voix tonitruante ╵des commandants de troupes ╵et les cris des guerriers.
26 Serait-ce grâce ╵à ton intelligence ╵que l’épervier prend son essor
et qu’il déploie ses ailes ╵en direction du sud[c] ?
27 Serait-ce à ton commandement ╵que l’aigle monte dans les airs
et qu’il bâtit son nid ╵sur les sommets ?
28 Il fait du rocher sa demeure ╵et y passe la nuit,
il établit sa forteresse ╵sur une dent rocheuse.
29 De là-haut, il épie sa proie,
de loin, il l’aperçoit.
30 Ses petits s’abreuvent de sang.
Où que soient les cadavres, ╵il est présent[d].
Footnotes
- 39.6 Les terres salées sont opposées aux terres à fruits (Ps 107.34). L’âne sauvage se nourrit des herbes salées croissant dans les steppes d’Arabie et de Syrie.
- 39.9 L’urus ou l’aurochs, variété éteinte aujourd’hui, était un animal grand et puissant, souvent pris comme symbole de la force (Nb 23.22 ; 24.8 ; Dt 33.17).
- 39.26 L’épervier migrateur s’arrête dans cette région au cours de son vol vers le sud au début de l’hiver.
- 39.30 Voir Mt 24.28 ; Lc 17.37.
Job 39
King James Version
39 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
2 Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows.
4 Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.
5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.
7 He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.
9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
10 Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
11 Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?
12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?
13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?
14 Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,
15 And forgetteth that the 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 her's: her labour is in vain without fear;
17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
18 What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.
19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.
29 From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.
30 Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.
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