Job 39
Expanded Bible
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch ·when the deer gives birth to her fawn [L the birth pangs of the deer]?
2 Do you count the months until they ·give birth [are fulfilled]
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 [L deliver their fetuses].
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 [or onager; C a donkey-like animal also known as the Asian wild ass; Gen. 16:12] go free?
Who untied ·its ropes [L the Arabian onager from its bonds; C another Hebrew word for a wild donkey]?
6 I am the one who gave ·the donkey [L it] the ·desert [steppe] as its home;
I gave it the ·desert [L salt] lands as a place to live.
7 ·The wild donkey [L It] ·laughs [scoffs] at the ·confusion [tumult; noise] in the city,
and it does not hear the drivers shout.
8 It ·roams [scouts out] the ·hills [mountains] looking for pasture,
looking for anything green to eat.
9 “Will the wild ox agree to serve you
and stay by your ·feeding box [stable] at night?
10 Can you hold it to the ·plowed row [furrow] with a ·harness [rope]
so it will ·plow [harrow] the valleys for you?
11 Will you depend on the wild ox for its great strength
and ·leave [hand over] 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 [or its pinions lack plumage].
14 The ostrich lays its eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the ·sand [dust].
15 It ·does not stop to think [forgets] that a foot might step on them and crush them;
·it does not care that some animal [L or a wild animal] might ·walk on [trample] them.
16 The ostrich ·is cruel to [treats harshly] 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 [or made her forget] wisdom;
God did not give it a share of ·good sense [understanding].
18 But when ·the ostrich gets up to run, it is so fast
that [or it flaps its wings aloft and] 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 [or quiver like locust wings]?
It scares people with its ·proud [splendid] snorting.
21 It paws ·wildly [or the dirt of the valley], enjoying its strength,
and ·charges into battle [L goes out to encounter the weapons].
22 It laughs at ·fear [or danger] and is afraid of nothing;
it does not run away from the sword.
23 The ·bag of arrows [quiver] rattles against the horse’s side,
along with the flashing ·spears and swords [or javelins and spears].
24 With ·great excitement [L trembling and shaking], the horse ·races over [L swallows up] the ground;
and it cannot stand still when it hears the ·trumpet [ram’s horn].
25 When the ·trumpet [ram’s horn] blows, the horse snorts, ‘Aha!’
It ·smells [senses] the battle from far away;
·it hears the shouts [L the thunder] of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Is it through your ·wisdom [understanding] that the ·hawk [or falcon] ·flies [soars]
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 [sharp] peak is its ·protected place [fortress].
29 From there it ·looks [scouts] for its food;
its eyes can see it from far away.
30 Its young ·eat [suck; gorge on] blood,
and where ·there is something dead [the slain are], the eagle is there.”
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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