Job 39

New International Version

• 1. "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
• 2. Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?
• 3. They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended.
• 4. Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.
• 5. "Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied his ropes?
• 6. I gave him the wasteland as his home, the salt flats as his habitat.
• 7. He laughs at the commotion in the town; he does not hear a driver's shout.
• 8. He ranges the hills for his pasture and searches for any green thing.
• 9. "Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?
• 10. Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he till the valleys behind you?
• 11. Will you rely on him for his great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to him?
• 12. Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
• 13. "The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.
• 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.
• 16. She treats her young harshly, 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.
• 18. Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.
• 19. "Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?
• 20. Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?
• 21. He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray.
• 22. He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; he does not shy away from the sword.
• 23. The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance.
• 24. In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
• 25. At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, 'Aha!' He catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
• 26. "Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings toward the south?
• 27. Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high?
• 28. He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is his stronghold.
• 29. From there he seeks out his food; his eyes detect it from afar.
• 30. His young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there is he."

New International Version