Job 39 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

1 ‘Job, do you know when mountain goats have their babies? Do you watch when female deer give birth? 2 Do you count the months until the animals have their babies? Do you know the time when they give birth? 3 They bend their back legs and have their babies. Then their labour pains stop. 4 Their little ones grow strong and healthy in the wild. They leave and do not come home again. 5 ‘Who let the wild donkeys go free? Who untied their ropes? 6 I gave them the dry and empty land as their home. I gave them salt flats to live in. 7 They laugh at all the noise in town. They do not hear the shouts of the donkey drivers. 8 They wander over the hills to look for grass. They search for anything green to eat. 9 ‘Job, will wild oxen agree to serve you? Will they stay by your feed box at night? 10 Can you keep them in straight rows with harnesses? Will they plough the valleys behind you? 11 Will you depend on them for their great strength? Will you let them do your heavy work? 12 Can you trust them to haul in your corn? Will they bring it to your threshing-floor? 13 ‘The wings of ostriches flap with joy. But they can’t compare with the wings and feathers of storks. 14 Ostriches lay their eggs on the ground. They let them get warm in the sand. 15 They do not know that something might step on them. A wild animal might walk all over them. 16 Ostriches are mean to their little ones. They treat them as if they did not belong to them. They do not care that their work was useless. 17 I did not provide ostriches with wisdom. I did not give them good sense. 18 But when they spread their feathers to run, they laugh at a horse and its rider. 19 ‘Job, do you give horses their strength? Do you put flowing manes on their necks? 20 Do you make them jump like locusts? They terrify others with their proud snorting. 21 They paw the ground wildly. They are filled with joy. They charge at their enemies. 22 They laugh at fear. They are not afraid of anything. They do not run away from swords. 23 Many arrows rattle at their sides. Flashing spears and javelins are also there. 24 They are so excited that they race over the ground. They can’t stand still when trumpets are blown. 25 When they hear the trumpets they snort, “Aha!” They catch the smells of battle far away. They hear the shouts of commanders and the battle cries. 26 ‘Job, are you wise enough to teach hawks where to fly? They spread their wings and fly towards the south. 27 Do you command eagles to fly so high? They build their nests as high as they can. 28 They live on cliffs and stay there at night. High up on the rocks they think they are safe. 29 From there they look for their food. They can see it from far away. 30 Their little ones like to eat blood. Eagles gather where they see dead bodies.’

English Standard Version

1 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the does? (1Sa 24:2; Ps 29:9; Ps 104:18) 2 Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth, 3 when they crouch, bring forth their offspring, and are delivered of their young? (1Sa 4:19) 4 Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open; they go out and do not return to them. (Ge 8:12) 5 “Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, (Job 12:18; Ps 116:16) 6 to whom I have given the arid plain for his home and the salt land for his dwelling place? (De 29:23; Job 24:5; Ps 107:34; Jer 2:24; Jer 17:6)

De 29:23Job 24:5Ps 107:34Jer 2:24Jer 17:6

7 He scorns the tumult of the city; he hears not the shouts of the driver. 8 He ranges the mountains as his pasture, and he searches after every green thing. 9 “Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger? (Nu 23:22; Pr 14:4; Isa 1:3) 10 Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes, or will he harrow the valleys after you? (Job 39:9) 11 Will you depend on him because his strength is great, and will you leave to him your labor? 12 Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain and gather it to your threshing floor? 13 “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love?^[1] 14 For she leaves her eggs to the earth and lets them be warmed on the ground, 15 forgetting that a foot may crush them and that the wild beast may trample them. 16 She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers; though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear, (Isa 49:4; Isa 65:23; La 4:3) 17 because God has made her forget wisdom and given her no share in understanding. (Job 35:11) 18 When she rouses herself to flee,^[2] she laughs at the horse and his rider. 19 “Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? 20 Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrifying. (Jer 8:16) 21 He paws^[3] in the valley and exults in his strength; he goes out to meet the weapons. (Jer 8:6) 22 He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; he does not turn back from the sword. 23 Upon him rattle the quiver, the flashing spear, and the javelin. 24 With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground; he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet. (Jer 4:19; Am 3:6) 25 When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle from afar, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting. 26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? 27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? (Nu 24:21; Jer 49:16; Ob 1:4; Hab 2:9)

Nu 24:21Jer 49:16Ob 1:4Hab 2:9

28 On the rock he dwells and makes his home, on the rocky crag and stronghold. (1Sa 14:5) 29 From there he spies out the prey; his eyes behold it from far away. 30 His young ones suck up blood, and where the slain are, there is he.” (Mt 24:28; Lu 17:37)