Job 39–41

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

Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?^q

²Do you count the months till they bear?

Do you know the time they give birth?^r

³They crouch down and bring forth their young;

their labor pains are ended.

⁴Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;

they leave and do not return.

⁵“Who let the wild donkey^s go free?

Who untied its ropes?

⁶I gave it the wasteland^t as its home,

the salt flats^u as its habitat.^v

⁷It laughs^w at the commotion in the town;

it does not hear a driver’s shout.^x

⁸It ranges the hills^y for its pasture

and searches for any green thing.

⁹“Will the wild ox^z consent to serve you?^a

Will it stay by your manger^b at night?

¹⁰Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?^c

Will it till the valleys behind you?

¹¹Will you rely on it for its great strength?^d

Will you leave your heavy work to it?

¹²Can you trust it to haul in your grain

and bring it to your threshing floor?

¹³“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,

though they cannot compare

with the wings and feathers of the stork.^e

¹⁴She lays her eggs on the ground

and lets them warm in the sand,

¹⁵unmindful that a foot may crush them,

that some wild animal may trample them.^f

¹⁶She treats her young harshly,^g as if they were not hers;

she cares not that her labor was in vain,

¹⁷for God did not endow her with wisdom

or give her a share of good sense.^h

¹⁸Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,

she laughsⁱ at horse and rider.

¹⁹“Do you give the horse its strength^j

or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?

²⁰Do you make it leap like a locust,^k

striking terror^l with its proud snorting?^m

²¹It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,ⁿ

and charges into the fray.^o

²²It laughs^p at fear, afraid of nothing;

it does not shy away from the sword.

²³The quiver^q rattles against its side,

along with the flashing spear^r and lance.

²⁴In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;

it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.^s

²⁵At the blast of the trumpet^t it snorts, ‘Aha!’

It catches the scent of battle from afar,

the shout of commanders and the battle cry.^u

²⁶“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom

and spread its wings toward the south?^v

²⁷Does the eagle soar at your command

and build its nest on high?^w

²⁸It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;

a rocky crag^x is its stronghold.

²⁹From there it looks for food;^y

its eyes detect it from afar.

³⁰Its young ones feast on blood,

and where the slain are, there it is.”^z

40The Lord said to Job:^a

²“Will the one who contends with the Almighty^b correct him?^c

Let him who accuses God answer him!”^d

³Then Job answered the Lord:

⁴“I am unworthy^e—how can I reply to you?

I put my hand over my mouth.^f

⁵I spoke once, but I have no answer^g—

twice, but I will say no more.”^h

⁶Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:ⁱ

⁷“Brace yourself like a man;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.^j

⁸“Would you discredit my justice?^k

Would you condemn me to justify yourself?^l

⁹Do you have an arm like God’s,^m

and can your voiceⁿ thunder like his?^o

¹⁰Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,

and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.^p

¹¹Unleash the fury of your wrath,^q

look at all who are proud and bring them low,^r

¹²look at all who are proud^s and humble them,^t

crush^u the wicked where they stand.

¹³Bury them all in the dust together;^v

shroud their faces in the grave.^w

¹⁴Then I myself will admit to you

that your own right hand can save you.^x

¹⁵“Look at Behemoth,

which I made^y along with you

and which feeds on grass like an ox.^z

¹⁶What strength^a it has in its loins,

what power in the muscles of its belly!^b

¹⁷Its tail sways like a cedar;

the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.^c

¹⁸Its bones are tubes of bronze,

its limbs^d like rods of iron.^e

¹⁹It ranks first among the works of God,^f

yet its Maker^g can approach it with his sword.^h

²⁰The hills bring it their produce,ⁱ

and all the wild animals play^j nearby.^k

²¹Under the lotus plants it lies,

hidden among the reeds^l in the marsh.^m

²²The lotuses conceal it in their shadow;

the poplars by the streamⁿ surround it.

²³A raging river^o does not alarm it;

it is secure, though the Jordan^p should surge against its mouth.

²⁴Can anyone capture it by the eyes,

or trap it and pierce its nose?^q

41^a“Can you pull in Leviathan^r with a fishhook^s

or tie down its tongue with a rope?

²Can you put a cord through its nose^t

or pierce its jaw with a hook?^u

³Will it keep begging you for mercy?^v

Will it speak to you with gentle words?

⁴Will it make an agreement with you

for you to take it as your slave for life?^w

⁵Can you make a pet of it like a bird

or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?

⁶Will traders barter for it?

Will they divide it up among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill its hide with harpoons

or its head with fishing spears?^x

⁸If you lay a hand on it,

you will remember the struggle and never do it again!^y

⁹Any hope of subduing it is false;

the mere sight of it is overpowering.^z

¹⁰No one is fierce enough to rouse it.^a

Who then is able to stand against me?^b

¹¹Who has a claim against me that I must pay?^c

Everything under heaven belongs to me.^d

¹²“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs,^e

its strength^f and its graceful form.

¹³Who can strip off its outer coat?

Who can penetrate its double coat of armor^b?^g

¹⁴Who dares open the doors of its mouth,^h

ringed about with fearsome teeth?

¹⁵Its back has^c rows of shields

tightly sealed together;ⁱ

¹⁶each is so close to the next

that no air can pass between.

¹⁷They are joined fast to one another;

they cling together and cannot be parted.

¹⁸Its snorting throws out flashes of light;

its eyes are like the rays of dawn.^j

¹⁹Flames^k stream from its mouth;

sparks of fire shoot out.

²⁰Smoke pours from its nostrils^l

as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.

²¹Its breath^m sets coals ablaze,

and flames dart from its mouth.ⁿ

²²Strength^o resides in its neck;

dismay goes before it.

²³The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;

they are firm and immovable.

²⁴Its chest is hard as rock,

hard as a lower millstone.^p

²⁵When it rises up, the mighty are terrified;^q

they retreat before its thrashing.^r

²⁶The sword that reaches it has no effect,

nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.^s

²⁷Iron it treats like straw^t

and bronze like rotten wood.

²⁸Arrows do not make it flee;^u

slingstones are like chaff to it.

²⁹A club seems to it but a piece of straw;^v

it laughs^w at the rattling of the lance.

³⁰Its undersides are jagged potsherds,

leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.^x

³¹It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron^y

and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.^z

³²It leaves a glistening wake behind it;

one would think the deep had white hair.

³³Nothing on earth is its equal^a—

a creature without fear.

³⁴It looks down on all that are haughty;^b

it is king over all that are proud.^c”