Job 39

39:1

“Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?

39:2

Can you count the months they are pregnant? Do you know the time they give birth?

39:3

They crouch down and bring forth their young; they deliver their newborn.

39:4

Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return.

39:5

Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?

39:6

I made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling.

39:7

He scorns the tumult of the city and never hears the shouts of a driver.

39:8

He roams the mountains for pasture, searching for any green thing.

39:9

Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?

39:10

Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he plow the valleys behind you?

39:11

Can you rely on his great strength? Will you leave your hard work to him?

39:12

Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?

39:13

The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but cannot match the pinions and feathers of the stork.

39:14

For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.

39:15

She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild animal may trample them.

39:16

She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain.

39:17

For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding.

39:18

Yet when she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.

39:19

Do you give strength to the horse or adorn his neck with a mane?

39:20

Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?

39:21

He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength; he charges into battle.

39:22

He laughs at fear, frightened of nothing; he does not turn back from the sword.

39:23

A quiver rattles at his side, along with a flashing spear and lance.

39:24

Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance; he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.

39:25

At the blast of the horn, he snorts with fervor. He catches the scent of battle from afar—the shouts of captains and the cry of war.

39:26

Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?

39:27

Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high?

39:28

He dwells on a cliff and lodges there; his stronghold is on a rocky crag.

39:29

From there he spies out food; his eyes see it from afar.

39:30

His young ones feast on blood; and where the slain are, there he is.”