Job 39

‘Do you know when

the mountain goats have their babies?

Have you seen the deer

giving birth to their babies?

₂Have you counted the months

until they give birth?

Do you know the right time

for them to have their babies?

₃They lie down and their babies are born,

and then the pain of having babies is over.

₄Their young deer grow up

and become big and strong in the field.

Then they leave their homes

and don't come back.

₅Who said that the wild donkey

who loosened his ropes could go free

and go anywhere he wanted to?

₆I am the One who let him live in the desert.

The salt desert is his home.

₇The wild donkeys laugh

when they see all the people in the city.

They never hear men shouting at them

to make them work.

₈They look for food in the mountains.

They look for any green plants to eat.’

₉‘Do you think that a wild_ox

will be happy to work for you?

Do you think he will come and

sleep in your stable? No, he won't.

₁₀You can not catch one of them

with a rope so that he can

pull your plough, and you can't lead him

so that he can plough your land.

₁₁You can not use his great power

to do your hard work.

₁₂You can not send the wild_ox

to harvest your grain

and bring it to your threshing-floor.’

₁₃‘An ostrich can be proud

and flap her wings,

but she can not fly like a stork.

₁₄An ostrich lays her eggs on the ground,

and her nest is in the dust.

₁₅She does not realise that animals

can trample her eggs and break them.

₁₆She is a cruel mother to her babies.

It is as if they were not her babies,

and she is not worried if they die.

₁₇God did not give her wisdom.

He did not make her understand.

₁₈But when she gets up

and starts running, she is very fast

and can laugh at a horse and his rider.’

₁₉‘Job, are you the one

who gives the horse its strength

or makes his neck beautiful with long hair?

₂₀Did you teach the horse to jump

like a locust and make everyone

afraid when he snorts?

₂₁He stamps the ground with his paw

to show that he is strong and

wants to go to war.

₂₂He is not afraid, and he does not run away

when it becomes dangerous in war.

₂₃The arrows in the bag

next to him make a noise,

and the spears shine brightly.

₂₄He does not want to stand still,

and he is ready to run when the trumpet blows.

₂₅He snorts when the trumpet blows,

and he knows when war is near,

because he hears the officers shouting

that the war must start.’

₂₆‘Did you teach the hawk to fly

high in the sky?

Did you teach him to open his wings

and to fly towards the south?

₂₇Did you tell the eagle to build

his nest on a high place?

₂₈His nest is on the rocks,

and he lives at the highest places in the mountains.

₂₉He sits there and looks down for food.

His eyes can see very far.

₃₀The vulture goes to any place

where he finds dead bodies and

gives his babies raw meat to eat.’