Job 38:39–40:5

³⁹“Can ^zyou hunt the prey for the lion,

Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

⁴⁰When they crouch in their dens,

Or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait?

^41aWho provides food for the raven,

When its young ones cry to God,

And wander about for lack of food?

39“Do you know the time when the wild ^amountain goats bear young?

Or can you mark when ^bthe deer gives birth?

²Can you number the months that they fulfill?

Or do you know the time when they bear young?

³They bow down,

They bring forth their young,

They deliver their ¹offspring.

⁴Their young ones are healthy,

They grow strong with grain;

They depart and do not return to them.

⁵“Who set the wild donkey free?

Who loosed the bonds of the ²onager,

^6cWhose home I have made the wilderness,

And the ³barren land his dwelling?

⁷He scorns the tumult of the city;

He does not heed the shouts of the driver.

⁸The range of the mountains is his pasture,

And he searches after ^devery green thing.

⁹“Will the ^ewild ox be willing to serve you?

Will he bed by your manger?

¹⁰Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes?

Or will he plow the valleys behind you?

¹¹Will you trust him because his strength is great?

Or will you leave your labor to him?

¹²Will you trust him to bring home your ⁴grain,

And gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,

But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s?

¹⁴For she leaves her eggs on the ground,

And warms them in the dust;

¹⁵She forgets that a foot may crush them,

Or that a wild beast may break them.

¹⁶She ^ftreats her young harshly, as though they were not hers;

Her labor is in vain, without ⁵concern,

¹⁷Because God deprived her of wisdom,

And did not ^gendow her with understanding.

¹⁸When she lifts herself on high,

She scorns the horse and its rider.

¹⁹“Have you given the horse strength?

Have you clothed his neck with ⁶thunder?

²⁰Can you ⁷frighten him like a locust?

His majestic snorting strikes terror.

²¹He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;

^hHe gallops into the clash of arms.

²²He mocks at fear, and is not frightened;

Nor does he turn back from the sword.

²³The quiver rattles against him,

The glittering spear and javelin.

²⁴He devours the distance with fierceness and rage;

Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.

²⁵At the blast of the trumpet he says, ‘Aha!’

He smells the battle from afar,

The thunder of captains and shouting.

²⁶“Does the hawk fly by your wisdom,

And spread its wings toward the south?

²⁷Does the ⁱeagle mount up at your command,

And ^jmake its nest on high?

²⁸On the rock it dwells and resides,

On the crag of the rock and the stronghold.

²⁹From there it spies out the prey;

Its eyes observe from afar.

³⁰Its young ones suck up blood;

And ^kwhere the slain are, there it is.”

40Moreover the Lord ^aanswered Job, and said:

²“Shall ^bthe one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?

He who ^crebukes God, let him answer it.”

Job’s Response to God

³Then Job answered the Lord and said:

⁴“Behold, ^dI am vile;

What shall I answer You?

^eI lay my hand over my mouth.

⁵Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;

Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”