Job 39–40

39TH CHAPTER

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?^a

The Ostrich

¹³“Does the ostrich flap its wings in joy, 

or do its wings lack feathers?^b

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.” 

40TH CHAPTER

The Lord Speaks

¹The Lord responded to Job, 

²“Will the person who finds fault with the Almighty correct him? 

Will the person who argues with God answer him?” 

Job Speaks

³Job answered the Lord, 

⁴“I’m so insignificant. How can I answer you? 

I will put my hand over my mouth. 

⁵I spoke once, but I can’t answer— 

twice, but not again.” 

The Lord Speaks:

Can You Be Like Me, Job?

⁶Then the Lord responded to Job out of a storm, 

⁷“Brace yourself like a man! 

I will ask you, and you will teach me. 

⁸“Would you undo my justice? 

Would you condemn me so that you can be righteous? 

⁹Do you have power like God’s? 

Can you thunder with a voice like his? 

¹⁰Then dress yourself in majesty and dignity. 

Clothe yourself in splendor and glory. 

¹¹Unleash your outbursts of anger. 

Look at all who are arrogant, and put them down. 

¹²Look at all who are arrogant, and humble them. 

Crush wicked people wherever they are. 

¹³Hide them completely in the dust, 

and cover their faces in the hidden place. 

¹⁴Then even I will praise you 

because your right hand can save you. 

Can You Conquer Behemoth, Job?

¹⁵“Look at Behemoth,^awhich I made along with you. 

It eats grass as cattle do. 

¹⁶Look at the strength in its back muscles, 

the power in its stomach muscles. 

¹⁷It makes its tail stiff like a cedar. 

The ligaments of its thighs are intertwined. 

¹⁸Its bones are bronze tubes. 

They are like iron bars. 

¹⁹Behemoth is the first of God’s conquests. 

Its maker approaches it with his sword. 

²⁰The hills bring it food, 

and all the wild animals play there. 

²¹It lies down under the lotus plants 

in a hiding place among reeds and swamps. 

²²Lotus plants provide it with cover. 

Poplars by the stream surround it. 

²³Though the river flows powerfully against it, it’s not alarmed. 

It’s confident ⸤even⸥ when the Jordan rushes against its mouth. 

²⁴Can anyone blind its eyes^b

or pierce its nose with snares?