Job 39:13–18

“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,

though they cannot compare

with the wings and feathers of the stork.

She lays her eggs on the ground

and lets them warm in the sand,

unmindful that a foot may crush them,

that some wild animal may trample them.

She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;

she cares not that her labor was in vain,

for God did not endow her with wisdom

or give her a share of good sense.

Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,

she laughs at horse and rider.

The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,

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

She abandons her eggs on the ground

and lets them be warmed in the sand.

She forgets that a foot may crush them

or that some wild animal may trample them.

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

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

For God has deprived her of wisdom;

he has not endowed her with understanding.

When she proudly spreads her wings,

she laughs at the horse and its rider.

“The ostrich flaps her wings grandly,

but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.

She lays her eggs on top of the earth,

letting them be warmed in the dust.

She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them

or a wild animal might destroy them.

She is harsh toward her young,

as if they were not her own.

She doesn’t care if they die.

For God has deprived her of wisdom.

He has given her no understanding.

But whenever she jumps up to run,

she passes the swiftest horse with its rider.

“The wings of the female ostrich flap—

are they the pinions of the stork or the falcon?

Indeed, it leaves its eggs to the earth,

and it lets them be warmed on the ground,

and it forgets that a foot might crush an egg,

and a wild animal might trample it.

It deals cruelly with its young ones, as if they were not its own,

as if without fear that its labor were in vain,

because God made it forget wisdom,

and he did not give it a share in understanding.

When it spreads its wings aloft,

it laughs at the horse and its rider.

Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks?

Or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?

Which leaveth her eggs in the earth,

And warmeth them in dust,

And forgetteth that the foot may crush them,

Or that the wild beast may break them.

She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers:

Her labour is in vain without fear;

Because God hath deprived her of wisdom,

Neither hath he imparted to her understanding.

What time she lifteth up herself on high,

She scorneth the horse and his rider.