Job 39–40

39“Do you know when ^fthe mountain goats give birth?

Do you observe ^gthe calving of the does?

²Can you number the months that they fulfill,

and do you know the time when they give birth,

³when they ^hcrouch, bring forth their offspring,

and are delivered of their young?

⁴Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;

they go out and ⁱdo not return to them.

⁵“Who has let the wild donkey go free?

Who has ^jloosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

⁶to whom I have given ^kthe arid plain for his home

and ^lthe salt land for his dwelling place?

⁷He scorns the tumult of the city;

he hears not the shouts of the driver.

⁸He ranges the mountains as his pasture,

and he searches after every green thing.

⁹“Is ^mthe wild ox willing to serve you?

Will he spend the night at your ⁿmanger?

¹⁰Can you bind ^mhim in the furrow with ropes,

or will he harrow the valleys after you?

¹¹Will you depend on him because his strength is great,

and will you leave to him your labor?

¹²Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain

and gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,

but are they the pinions and plumage of love?¹

¹⁴For she leaves her eggs to the earth

and lets them be warmed on the ground,

¹⁵forgetting that a foot may crush them

and that the wild beast may trample them.

¹⁶She ^odeals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;

though her ^plabor be in vain, yet she has no fear,

¹⁷because God has made her forget wisdom

and ^qgiven her no share in understanding.

¹⁸When she rouses herself to flee,²

she laughs at the horse and his rider.

¹⁹“Do you give the horse his might?

Do you clothe his neck with a mane?

²⁰Do you make him leap like the locust?

His majestic ^rsnorting is terrifying.

²¹He paws³ in the valley and exults in his strength;

he ^sgoes out to meet the weapons.

²²He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

he does not turn back from the sword.

²³Upon him rattle the quiver,

the flashing spear, and the javelin.

²⁴With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground;

he cannot stand still at ^tthe sound of the trumpet.

²⁵When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’

He smells the battle from afar,

the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

²⁶“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars

and spreads his wings toward the south?

²⁷Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up

and makes his ^unest on high?

²⁸On the rock he dwells and makes his home,

on ^vthe rocky crag and stronghold.

²⁹From there he spies out the prey;

his eyes behold it from far away.

³⁰His young ones suck up blood,

and ^wwhere the slain are, there is he.”

40And the Lord ^xsaid to Job:

²“Shall a faultfinder ^ycontend with the Almighty?

He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Job Promises Silence

³Then Job answered the Lord and said:

⁴“Behold, I am ^zof small account; what shall I answer you?

^aI lay my hand on my mouth.

⁵I have spoken ^bonce, and I will not answer;

^btwice, but I will proceed no further.”

The Lord Challenges Job

⁶Then the Lord ^canswered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

^7d“Dress for action¹ like a man;

^eI will question you, and you make it known to me.

⁸Will you even put me in the wrong?

Will you condemn me that ^fyou may be in the right?

⁹Have you ^gan arm like God,

and can you thunder with ^ha voice like his?

¹⁰“Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;

ⁱclothe yourself with glory and splendor.

¹¹Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

and look on everyone who is ^jproud and abase him.

¹²Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low

and ^ktread down the wicked ^lwhere they stand.

^13mHide them all in ⁿthe dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.²

¹⁴Then will I also acknowledge to you

that your own ^oright hand can save you.

¹⁵“Behold, Behemoth,³

which I made as I made you;

he eats ^pgrass like an ox.

¹⁶Behold, his strength in his loins,

and his power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

¹⁸His bones are tubes of bronze,

his limbs like bars of iron.

¹⁹“He is ^qthe first of ^rthe works⁴ of God;

let him who made him bring near his sword!

²⁰For the mountains yield food for him

where all the wild beasts play.

²¹Under the lotus plants he lies,

in the shelter of ^sthe reeds and in the marsh.

²²For his shade the lotus trees cover him;

the willows of the brook surround him.

²³Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;

he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

²⁴Can one take him by his eyes,⁵

or pierce his nose with a snare?