Job 39
39
The Lord Continues
When Do Mountain Goats Give Birth?
1When do mountain goats
and deer give birth?
Have you been there
when their young are born?
* 2How long are they pregnant
3before they deliver?
4Soon their young grow strong
and then leave
to be on their own.
5Who set wild donkeys free?
6I alone help them survive
in salty desert sand.
7They stay far from crowded cities
and refuse to be tamed.
8Instead, they roam the hills,
searching for pastureland.
9Would a wild ox agree
to live in your barn
and labor for you?
10Could you force him to plow
or to drag a heavy log
to smooth out the soil?
11Can you depend on him
to use his great strength
and do your heavy work?
12Can you trust him
to harvest your grain
or take it to your barn
from the threshing place?
An Ostrich Proudly Flaps Her Wings
13An ostrich proudly
flaps her wings,
but not because
she loves her young.#39.13 young: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.
14She abandons her eggs
and lets the dusty ground
keep them warm.
15And she doesn't seem to worry
that the feet of an animal
could crush them all.
16She treats her eggs as though
they were not her own,
unconcerned that her work
might be for nothing.
17I myself made her foolish
and without common sense.
18But once she starts running,#39.18 starts running: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
she laughs at a rider
on the fastest horse.
Did You Give Horses Their Strength?
19Did you give horses their strength
and the flowing hair
along their necks?
20Did you make them able
to jump like grasshoppers
or to frighten people
with their snorting?
21Before horses are ridden
into battle,
they paw at the ground,
proud of their strength.
22Laughing at fear, they rush
toward the fighting,
23while the weapons of their riders
rattle and flash in the sun.
24Unable to stand still,
they gallop eagerly into battle
when trumpets blast.
25Stirred by the distant smells
and sounds of war, they snort
in reply to the trumpet.
26Did you teach hawks to fly south
for the winter?
* 27Did you train eagles#39.27 eagles: Or “vultures.” to build
28their nests on rocky cliffs,
29where they can look down
to spot their next meal?
30 #
Mt 24.28; Lk 17.37. Then their young gather to feast
wherever the victim lies.
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Job 39: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Job 39
39
The LORD Continues: the Mountain Goats
1“Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch the does when they are in labor?
2Can you count the months they are pregnant
or know the time when they’ll give birth?
3They kneel down to give birth and deliver their young.
Then the pain of giving birth is over.
4Their young are healthy and grow up in the wild.
They leave and don’t come back.
The Wild Donkey
5“Who lets the wild donkey go free?
Who unties the ropes of the wild donkey?
6I gave it the desert to live in
and the salt flats as its dwelling place.
7It laughs at the noise of the city
and doesn’t ⌞even⌟ listen to the shouting of its master.
8It explores the mountains for its pasture
and looks for anything green.
The Wild Ox
9“Will the wild ox agree to serve you,
or will it stay at night beside your feeding trough?
10Can you guide a wild ox in a furrow,
or will it plow the valleys behind you?
11Can you trust it just because it’s so strong
or leave your labor to it?
12Can you rely on it to bring your grain back
and take it to your threshing floor? #39:12 A threshing floor is an outdoor area where grain is separated from its husks.
The Ostrich
13“Does the ostrich flap its wings in joy,
or do its wings lack feathers? #39:13 Or “Do its wings compare well with the wings and feathers of the stork?”
14It lays its eggs on the ground
and warms them in the dust.
15It forgets that a foot may crush them
or a wild animal may trample them.
16It acts harshly toward its young as if they weren’t its own.
It is not afraid that its work is for nothing
17because God has deprived it of wisdom
and did not give it any understanding.
18It laughs at the horse and its rider when it gets up to flee.
The Horse
19“Can you give strength to a horse
or dress its neck with a flowing mane?
20Can you make it leap like a locust,
when its snorting causes terror?
21It paws in strength and finds joy in its power.
It charges into battle.
22It laughs at fear,
is afraid of nothing,
and doesn’t back away from swords.
23A quiver of arrows rattles on it
along with the flashing spear and javelin.
24Anxious and excited, the horse eats up the ground
and doesn’t trust the sound of the ram’s horn.
25As often as the horn sounds, the horse says, ‘Aha!’
and it smells the battle far away—
the thundering ⌞orders⌟ of the captains and the battle cries.
The Birds of Prey
26“Does your understanding make a bird of prey fly
and spread its wings toward the south?
27Is it by your order that the eagle flies high
and makes its nest on the heights?
28It perches for the night on a cliff.
Its fortress is on a jagged peak.
29From there it seeks food,
and its eyes see it from far away.
30Its young ones feed on blood. It is found wherever there are dead bodies.”
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