39:1 “Are you acquainted with the way
the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?
39:2 Do you count the months they must fulfill,
and do you know the time they give birth?
39:3 They crouch, they bear their young,
they bring forth the offspring they have carried.
39:4 Their young grow strong, and grow up in the open;
they go off, and do not return to them.
39:5 Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who released the bonds of the donkey,
39:6 to whom I appointed the steppe for its home,
the salt wastes as its dwelling place?
39:7 It scorns the tumult in the town;
it does not hear the shouts of a driver.
39:8 It ranges the hills as its pasture,
and searches after every green plant.
39:9 Is the wild ox willing to be your servant?
Will it spend the night at your feeding trough?
39:10 Can you bind the wild ox to a furrow with its rope,
will it till the valleys, following after you?
39:11 Will you rely on it because its strength is great?
Will you commit your labor to it?
39:12 Can you count on it to bring in your grain,
and gather the grain to your threshing floor?
39:13 “The wings of the ostrich flap with joy,
but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork?
39:14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground,
and lets them be warmed on the soil.
39:15 She forgets that a foot might crush them,
or that a wild animal might trample them.
39:16 She is harsh with her young,
as if they were not hers;
she is unconcerned
about the uselessness of her labor.
39:17 For God deprived her of wisdom,
and did not impart understanding to her.
39:18 But as soon as she springs up,
she laughs at the horse and its rider.
39:19 “Do you give the horse its strength?
Do you clothe its neck with a mane?
39:20 Do you make it leap like a locust?
Its proud neighing is terrifying!
39:21 It paws the ground in the valley,
exulting mightily,
it goes out to meet the weapons.
39:22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
it does not shy away from the sword.
39:23 On it the quiver rattles;
the lance and javelin flash.
39:24 In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet is blown.
39:25 At the sound of the trumpet, it says, ‘Aha!’
And from a distance it catches the scent of battle,
the thunderous shouting of commanders,
and the battle cries.
39:26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,
and spreads its wings toward the south?
39:27 Is it at your command that the eagle soars,
and builds its nest on high?
39:28 It lives on a rock and spends the night there,
on a rocky crag and a fortress.
39:29 From there it spots its prey,
its eyes gaze intently from a distance.
39:30 And its young ones devour the blood,
and where the dead carcasses are,
there it is.”
40:1 Then the Lord answered Job:
40:2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”
40:3 Then Job answered the Lord:
40:4 “Indeed, I am completely unworthy – how could I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself.
40:5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer;
twice, but I will say no more.”
40:6 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:
40:7 “Get ready for a difficult task like a man.
I will question you and you will inform me!
40:8 Would you indeed annul my justice?
Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?
40:9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
40:10 Adorn yourself, then, with majesty and excellency,
and clothe yourself with glory and honor!
40:11 Scatter abroad the abundance of your anger.
Look at every proud man and bring him low;
40:12 Look at every proud man and abase him;
crush the wicked on the spot!
40:13 Hide them in the dust together,
imprison them in the grave.
40:14 Then I myself will acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can save you.
40:15 “Look now at Behemoth, which I made as I made you;
it eats grass like the ox.
40:16 Look at its strength in its loins,
and its power in the muscles of its belly.
40:17 It makes its tail stiff like a cedar,
the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound.
40:18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like bars of iron.
40:19 It ranks first among the works of God,
the One who made it
has furnished it with a sword.
40:20 For the hills bring it food,
where all the wild animals play.
40:21 Under the lotus trees it lies,
in the secrecy of the reeds and the marsh.
40:22 The lotus trees conceal it in their shadow;
the poplars by the stream conceal it.
40:23 If the river rages, it is not disturbed,
it is secure, though the Jordan
should surge up to its mouth.
40:24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes,
or pierce its nose with a snare?
41:1 (40:25) “Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook,
and tie down its tongue with a rope?
41:2 Can you put a cord through its nose,
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
41:3 Will it make numerous supplications to you,
will it speak to you with tender words?
41:4 Will it make a pact with you,
so you could take it as your slave for life?
41:5 Can you play with it, like a bird,
or tie it on a leash for your girls?
41:6 Will partners bargain for it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
41:7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
41:8 If you lay your hand on it,
you will remember the fight,
and you will never do it again!
41:9 (41:1) See, his expectation is wrong,
he is laid low even at the sight of it.
41:10 Is it not fierce when it is awakened?
Who is he, then, who can stand before it?
41:11 (Who has confronted me that I should repay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me!)
41:12 I will not keep silent about its limbs,
and the extent of its might,
and the grace of its arrangement.
41:13 Who can uncover its outer covering?
Who can penetrate to the inside of its armor?
41:14 Who can open the doors of its mouth?
Its teeth all around are fearsome.
41:15 Its back has rows of shields,
shut up closely together as with a seal;
41:16 each one is so close to the next
that no air can come between them.
41:17 They lock tightly together, one to the next;
they cling together and cannot be separated.
41:18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
its eyes are like the red glow of dawn.
41:19 Out of its mouth go flames,
sparks of fire shoot forth!
41:20 Smoke streams from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot over burning rushes.
41:21 Its breath sets coals ablaze
and a flame shoots from its mouth.
41:22 Strength lodges in its neck,
and despair runs before it.
41:23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm on it, immovable.
41:24 Its heart is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.
41:25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified,
at its thrashing about they withdraw.
41:26 Whoever strikes it with a sword
will have no effect,
nor with the spear, arrow, or dart.
41:27 It regards iron as straw
and bronze as rotten wood.
41:28 Arrows do not make it flee;
slingstones become like chaff to it.
41:29 A club is counted as a piece of straw;
it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
41:30 Its underparts are the sharp points of potsherds,
it leaves its mark in the mud
like a threshing sledge.
41:31 It makes the deep boil like a cauldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment,
41:32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
one would think the deep had a head of white hair.
41:33 The likes of it is not on earth,
a creature without fear.
41:34 It looks on every haughty being;
it is king over all that are proud.”