Job 39:1–41:8

Do you know when mountain goats give birth?

Have you watched the deer in labor?

²Can you count the months they are pregnant^A

so you can know the time they give birth?

³They crouch down to give birth to their young;

they deliver their newborn.^B

⁴Their offspring are healthy and grow up in the open field.

They leave and do not return.^C

⁵Who set the wild donkey free?

Who released the swift donkey from its harness?

⁶I made the desert^c its home,

and the salty^d wasteland its dwelling.

⁷It scoffs at the noise of the village

and never hears the shouts of a driver.^e

⁸It roams the mountains for its pastureland,

searching for anything green.

⁹Would the wild ox be willing to serve you?

Would it spend the night by your feeding trough?

¹⁰Can you hold the wild ox^f to a furrow by its harness?

Will it plow the valleys behind you?

¹¹Can you depend on it because its strength is great?

Would you leave it to do your hard work?

¹²Can you trust the wild ox to harvest your grain

and bring it to your threshing floor?

¹³The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,

but are her feathers and plumage like the stork’s?^Dg

¹⁴She abandons her eggs on the ground

and lets them be warmed in the sand.

¹⁵She forgets that a foot may crush them

or that some wild animal may trample them.

¹⁶She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own,

with no fear that her labor may have been in vain.

¹⁷For God has deprived her of wisdom;

he has not endowed her with understanding.^h

¹⁸When she proudly^A spreads her wings,

she laughs at the horse and its rider.

¹⁹Do you give strength to the horse?

Do you adorn his neck with a mane?^A

²⁰Do you make him leap like a locust?

His proud snorting fills one with terror.

²¹He paws^B in the valley and rejoices in his strength;

he charges into battle.^C

²²He laughs at fear, since he is afraid of nothing;

he does not run from the sword.

²³A quiver rattles at his side,

along with a flashing spear and a javelin.

²⁴He charges ahead^D with trembling rage;

he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.

²⁵When the trumpet blasts, he snorts defiantly.^E

He smells the battle from a distance;

he hears the officers’ shouts and the battle cry.

²⁶Does the hawk take flight by your understanding

and spread its wings to the south?

²⁷Does the eagle soar at your command

and make its nestⁱ on high?

²⁸It lives on a cliff where it spends the night;

its stronghold is on a rocky crag.

²⁹From there it searches for prey;^a

its eyes penetrate the distance.

³⁰Its brood gulps down blood,

and where the slain are, it is there.^b

40The Lord answered Job:

²Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?

Let him who argues with God give an answer.^F

³Then Job answered the Lord:

⁴I am so insignificant. How can I answer you?^c

I place my hand over my mouth.

⁵I have spoken once, and I will not reply;

twice, but now I can add nothing.^d

⁶Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:^e

⁷Get ready to answer me like a man;

when I question^f you, you will inform me.

⁸Would you really challenge my justice?

Would you declare me guilty^g to justify yourself?^h

⁹Do you have an arm like God’s?

Can you thunder with a voice like his?

¹⁰Adorn yourself with majestyⁱ and splendor,

and clothe yourself with honor and glory.

¹¹Pour out your raging anger;^j

look on every proud person and humiliate him.^k

¹²Look on every proud person and humble him;^l

trample the wicked where they stand.^A

¹³Hide them together in the dust;

imprison them in the grave.^B

¹⁴Then I will confess to you

that your own right hand^m can deliver you.ⁿ

¹⁵Look at Behemoth,

which I made along with you.

He eats grass like cattle.

¹⁶Look at the strength of his back^C

and the power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He stiffens his tail like a cedar tree;

the tendons of his thighs are woven firmly together.

¹⁸His bones are bronze tubes;

his limbs are like iron rods.

¹⁹He is the foremost of God’s works;^o

only his Maker can draw the sword against him.

²⁰The hills yield food for him,

while all sorts of wild animals play there.

²¹He lies under the lotus plants,

hiding in the protection^D of marshy reeds.

²²Lotus plants cover him with their shade;

the willows by the brook surround him.

²³Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid;

he remains confident, even if the Jordan surges up to his mouth.

²⁴Can anyone capture him while he looks on,^E

or pierce his nose with snares?

41Can you pull in Leviathan^p with a hook^q

or tie his tongue down with a rope?

²Can you put a cord^F through his nose

or pierce his jaw with a hook?^r

³Will he beg you for mercy

or speak softly to you?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you

so that you can take him as a slave forever?^s

⁵Can you play with him like a bird

or put him on a leash^G for your girls?

⁶Will traders bargain for him

or divide him among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill his hide with harpoons

or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay a^H hand on him.

You will remember the battle

and never repeat it!