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39
1 “Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched the birth-pains of the deer? 2 Do you know how many months they carry their young? Do you know the time when they give birth?*In verses 1-2 God is asking Job how much he knows about the natural world, indicating that much is often unobserved. 3 They crouch down in labor to deliver their offspring. 4 Their young grow strong in the open countryside; they leave and never return.
5 Who gave the wild donkey its freedom? Who set it free from its bonds? 6 I have given it the wilderness as its home, the salt plains as a place to live. 7 It despises the noise of the city; it doesn't need to listen to the shouts of a driver.†In contrast to a domestic donkey which is controlled by the shouts of its master. 8 It hunts in the mountains for pastureland, searching for all kinds of green plants to eat.
9 Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your manger? 10 Can you tie a wild ox to a plow? Can you make it till your fields for you? 11 Because it's so powerful can you trust it? Can you depend on it to do your heavy work for you? 12 Are you sure it will gather your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 The ostrich proudly flaps her wings, but they are nothing like the flight feathers of the stork.‡The ostrich is flightless, while the stork is a master of the air. The Hebrew is unclear and many possible translations have been proposed. 14 The ostrich abandons her eggs on the ground, leaving them to be warmed in the dust. 15 She doesn't think that they can be crushed underfoot, trampled by a wild animal. 16 She is tough towards her young, acting as if they didn't belong to her. She doesn't care that all her work was for nothing. 17 For I, God, made her forget wisdom—she didn't get her share of intelligence. 18 But when she needs to, she can jump up and run, mocking a horse and its rider with her speed.
19 Did you give the horse its strength? Did you place a mane upon its neck? 20 Did you make it able to jump like a locust? Its loud snorting is terrifying! 21 It paws at the ground, rearing up with power as it charges into battle. 22 It laughs at fear; it is not frightened at all. 23 The quiver full of arrows rattles against it; the spear and the javelin flash in the sunlight. 24 Shaking with rage it gallops across the ground; it cannot remain still when the trumpet sounds. 25 Whenever the trumpet calls, it is ready;§Literally, “he says, ‘Aha!” he senses the sound of battle from far away, he hears the commanders shouting.
26 Is it through your wisdom that the hawk soars, spreading its wings towards the south? 27 Do you command the eagle to fly high and make its nest in the summits of the mountains? 28 It lives among the cliffs, and roosts on a remote rocky crag. 29 From there it spies its prey from far away, fixing its gaze on its victim. Its chicks eagerly swallow blood. 30 Where the carcasses are, that's where birds of prey are found.”

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*39:2 In verses 1-2 God is asking Job how much he knows about the natural world, indicating that much is often unobserved.

†39:7 In contrast to a domestic donkey which is controlled by the shouts of its master.

‡39:13 The ostrich is flightless, while the stork is a master of the air. The Hebrew is unclear and many possible translations have been proposed.

§39:25 Literally, “he says, ‘Aha!”

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher