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# Job, Chapter 39
## Chapter 39
1 Do you know when mountain goats are born, ^job-39-1
or watch for the birth pangs of deer,
2 Number the months that they must fulfill, ^job-39-2
or know when they give birth,
3 When they crouch down and drop their young, ^job-39-3
when they deliver their progeny?
4 Their offspring thrive and grow in the open, ^job-39-4
they leave and do not return.
5 Who has given the wild donkey his freedom, ^job-39-5
and who has loosed the wild ass from bonds?
6 I have made the wilderness his home ^job-39-6
and the salt flats his dwelling.
7 He scoffs at the uproar of the city, ^job-39-7
hears no shouts of a driver.
8 He ranges the mountains for pasture, ^job-39-8
and seeks out every patch of green.
9 Will the wild ox consent to serve you, ^job-39-9
or pass the nights at your manger?
10 Will you bind the wild ox with a rope in the furrow, ^job-39-10
and will he plow the valleys after you?
11 Will you depend on him for his great strength ^job-39-11
and leave to him the fruits of your toil?
12 Can you rely on him to bring in your grain ^job-39-12
and gather in the yield of your threshing floor?
13 The wings of the ostrich flap away; ^job-39-13
her plumage is lacking in feathers.
14 When she abandons her eggs on the ground ^job-39-14
and lets them warm in the sand,
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them, ^job-39-15
that the wild beasts may trample them;
16 She cruelly disowns her young ^job-39-16
and her labor is useless; she has no fear.
17 For God has withheld wisdom from her ^job-39-17
and given her no share in understanding.
18 Yet when she spreads her wings high, ^job-39-18
she laughs at a horse and rider.
19 Do you give the horse his strength, ^job-39-19
and clothe his neck with a mane?
20 Do you make him quiver like a locust, ^job-39-20
while his thunderous snorting spreads terror?
21 He paws the valley, he rejoices in his strength, ^job-39-21
and charges into battle.
22 He laughs at fear and cannot be terrified; ^job-39-22
he does not retreat from the sword.
23 Around him rattles the quiver, ^job-39-23
flashes the spear and the javelin.
24 Frenzied and trembling he devours the ground; ^job-39-24
he does not hold back at the sound of the trumpet;
25 at the trumpet’s call he cries, “Aha!” ^job-39-25
Even from afar he scents the battle,
the roar of the officers and the shouting.
26 Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, ^job-39-26
that he spreads his wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle fly up at your command ^job-39-27
to build his nest up high?
28 On a cliff he dwells and spends the night, ^job-39-28
on the spur of cliff or fortress.
29 From there he watches for his food; ^job-39-29
his eyes behold it afar off.
30 His young ones greedily drink blood; ^job-39-30
where the slain are, there is he.
\* (39:13) The wings of the ostrich cannot raise her from the ground, but they help her to run swiftly.
\* (39:14] – [16) People thought that, because the ostrich laid her eggs on the sand, she was thereby cruelly abandoning them; cf. [Lam 4:3].
\* (39:19] – [25) A classic description of a war horse.
a. (39:30) ([[matthew-24|Mt 24]]:28]; ([[luke-17|Lk 17]]:37].
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_New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.
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