Chapter 39
1 " Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth ? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
2 Can you count the months that they fulfil ? Or do you know the time when they give birth ?
3 They bow themselves. They bear their young . They end their labour pains .
4 Their young ones become strong . They grow up in the open field. They go out , and don’t return again .
5 " Who has set the wild donkey free ? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey ,
6 whose home I have made the wilderness , and the salt land his dwelling place ?
7 He scorns the tumult of the city , neither does he hear the shouting of the driver .
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture . He searches after every green thing .
9 " Will the wild ox be content to serve you ? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?
10 Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you ?
11 Will you trust him , because his strength is great ? Or will you leave to him your labour ?
12 Will you confide in him , that he will bring home your seed , and gather the grain of your threshing floor ?
13 "The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the feathers and plumage of love?
14 For she leaves her eggs on the earth , warms them in the dust ,
15 and forgets that the foot may crush them , or that the wild animal may trample them .
16 She deals harshly with her young ones , as if they were not hers. Though her labour is in vain , she is without fear ,
17 because God has deprived her of wisdom , neither has he imparted to her understanding.
18 When she lifts up herself on high , she scorns the horse and his rider .
19 " Have you given the horse might ? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane ?
20 Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.
21 He paws in the valley , and rejoices in his strength . He goes out to meet the armed men .
22 He mocks at fear , and is not dismayed , neither does he turn back from the sword .
23 The quiver rattles against him , the flashing spear and the javelin .
24 He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage , neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet .
25 As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, ‘ Aha !’ He smells the battle afar off , the thunder of the captains , and the shouting .
26 " Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings towards the south ?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up , and makes his nest on high ?
28 On the cliff he dwells and makes his home, on the point of the cliff and the stronghold .
29 From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off .
30 His young ones also suck up blood . Where the slain are , there he is ."