Job 39
39
God Speaks of Nature and Its Beings
1“Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock give birth [to their young]?
Do you observe the calving of the deer?
2“Can you count the months that they #39:2 Lit fulfill.carry offspring,
Or do you know the time when they give birth?
3“They kneel down, they bring forth their young,
They cast out their labor pains.
4“Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field;
They leave and do not return to them.
5¶“Who sent out the wild donkey free [from dependence on man]?
And who has loosed the bonds of the wild donkey [to survive in the wild],
6To whom I gave the wilderness as his home
And the salt land as his dwelling place?
7“He scorns the tumult of the city,
And does not hear the shouting of the taskmaster.
8“He explores the mountains as his pasture
And searches after every green thing.
9“Will the wild ox be willing to serve you,
Or remain beside your manger at night?
10“Can you bind the wild ox with a harness [to the plow] in the furrow?
Or will he plow the valleys for you?
11“Will you trust him because his strength is great
And leave your labor to him?
12“Will you have faith and depend on him to return your grain
And gather it from your threshing floor?
13¶“The [flightless] wings of the ostrich wave joyously;
With the pinion (shackles, fetters) and plumage of love,
14For she leaves her eggs on the ground
And warms them in the dust,
15Forgetting that a foot may crush them,
Or that the wild beast may trample them.
16“She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers;
Though her labor is in vain because she is unconcerned [for the safety of her brood],
17For God has made her forget wisdom,
And has not given her a share of understanding.
18“Yet when she lifts herself #39:18 Or to flee.on high,
[So swift is she that] she laughs at the horse and his rider.
19¶“Have you given the horse his might?
Have you clothed his neck with quivering and a shaking mane?
20“Have you [Job] made him leap like a locust?
The majesty of his snorting [nostrils] is terrible.
21“He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength;
He goes out to meet the weapons [of armed men].
22“He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
And [in battle] he does not turn back from the sword.
23“The quiver rattles against him,
[As do] the flashing spear and the lance [of his rider].
24“With fierceness and rage he races to devour the ground,
And he does not stand still at the sound of the [war] trumpet.
25“As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’
And he smells the battle from far away,
And senses the thunder of the captains and the war cry.
26¶“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,
Stretching his wings toward the south [as winter approaches]?
27“Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
And makes his nest on high [in an inaccessible place]?
28“On the cliff he dwells and remains [securely],
Upon the point of the rock and the inaccessible stronghold.
29“From there he spies out the prey;
His eyes see it from far away.
30“His young ones suck up blood;
And where the slain are, there is he.”
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Job 39: AMP
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Job 39
39
1“Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched the birth-pains of the deer? 2Do you know how many months they carry their young? Do you know the time when they give birth?#39:2. In verses 1-2 God is asking Job how much he knows about the natural world, indicating that much is often unobserved. 3They crouch down in labor to deliver their offspring. 4Their young grow strong in the open countryside; they leave and never return.
5Who gave the wild donkey its freedom? Who set it free from its bonds? 6I have given it the wilderness as its home, the salt plains as a place to live. 7It despises the noise of the city; it doesn't need to listen to the shouts of a driver.#39:7. In contrast to a domestic donkey which is controlled by the shouts of its master. 8It hunts in the mountains for pastureland, searching for all kinds of green plants to eat.
9Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your manger? 10Can you tie a wild ox to a plow? Can you make it till your fields for you? 11Because it's so powerful can you trust it? Can you depend on it to do your heavy work for you? 12Are you sure it will gather your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13The ostrich proudly flaps her wings, but they are nothing like the flight feathers of the stork.#39:13. The ostrich is flightless, while the stork is a master of the air. The Hebrew is unclear and many possible translations have been proposed. 14The ostrich abandons her eggs on the ground, leaving them to be warmed in the dust. 15She doesn't think that they can be crushed underfoot, trampled by a wild animal. 16She is tough towards her young, acting as if they didn't belong to her. She doesn't care that all her work was for nothing. 17For I, God, made her forget wisdom—she didn't get her share of intelligence. 18But when she needs to, she can jump up and run, mocking a horse and its rider with her speed.
19Did you give the horse its strength? Did you place a mane upon its neck? 20Did you make it able to jump like a locust? Its loud snorting is terrifying! 21It paws at the ground, rearing up with power as it charges into battle. 22It laughs at fear; it is not frightened at all. 23The quiver full of arrows rattles against it; the spear and the javelin flash in the sunlight. 24Shaking with rage it gallops across the ground; it cannot remain still when the trumpet sounds. 25Whenever the trumpet calls, it is ready;#39:25. Literally, “he says, ‘Aha!” he senses the sound of battle from far away, he hears the commanders shouting.
26Is it through your wisdom that the hawk soars, spreading its wings towards the south? 27Do you command the eagle to fly high and make its nest in the summits of the mountains? 28It lives among the cliffs, and roosts on a remote rocky crag. 29From there it spies its prey from far away, fixing its gaze on its victim. Its chicks eagerly swallow blood. 30Where the carcasses are, that's where birds of prey are found.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com