Job 39

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Do you know about the birth of the mountain goats, watch for the birth pangs of the hinds,	1 Do you know at what time the wild goats have given birth among the rocks, or do you observe the deer when they go into labor?
2 Number the months that they must fulfill, and fix the time of their bringing forth?	2 Have you numbered the months since their conception, and do you know at what time they gave birth?
3 They crouch down and bear their young; they deliver their progeny in the desert.	3 They bend themselves for their offspring, and they give birth, and they emit roars.
4 When their offspring thrive and grow, they leave and do not return.	4 Their young are weaned and go out to feed; they depart and do not return to them.
5 Who has given the wild ass his freedom, and who has loosed him from bonds?	5 Who has set the wild ass free, and who has released his bonds?
6 I have made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling.	6 I have given a house in solitude to him, and his tabernacle is in the salted land.
7 He scoffs at the uproar of the city, and hears no shouts of a driver.	7 He despises the crowded city; he does not pay attention to the bellow of the tax collector.
8 He ranges the mountains for pasture, and seeks out every patch of green.	8 He looks around the mountains of his pasture, and he searches everywhere for green plants.
9 Will the wild ox consent to serve you, and to pass the nights by your manger?	9 Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve you, and will he remain in your stall?
10 Will a rope bind him in the furrow, and will he harrow the valleys after you?	10 Can you detain the rhinoceros with your harness to plough for you, and will he loosen the soil of the furrows behind you?
11 Will you trust him for his great strength and leave to him the fruits of your toil?	11 Will you put your faith in his great strength, and delegate your labors to him?
12 Can you rely on him to thresh out your grain and gather in the yield of your threshing floor?	12 Will you trust him to return to you the seed, and to gather it on your drying floor?
13 The wings of the ostrich beat idly; her plumage is lacking in pinions.	13 The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk.
14 When she leaves her eggs on the ground and deposits them in the sand,	14 When she leaves eggs behind in the earth, will you perhaps warm them in the dust?
15 Unmindful that a foot may crush them, that the wild beasts may trample them,	15 She forgets that feet may trample them, or that the beasts of the field may shatter them.
16 She cruelly disowns her young and ruthlessly makes nought of her brood;	16 She is hardened against her young, as if they were not hers; she has labored in vain, with no fear compelling her.
17 For God has withheld wisdom from her and has given her no share in understanding.	17 For God has deprived her of wisdom; neither has he given her understanding.
18 Yet in her swiftness of foot she makes sport of the horse and his rider.	18 Yet, when the time is right, she raises her wings on high; she ridicules the horse and his rider.
19 Do you give the horse his strength, and endow his neck with splendor?	19 Will you supply strength to the horse, or envelope his throat with neighing?
20 Do you make the steed to quiver while his thunderous snorting spreads terror?	20 Will you alarm him as the locusts do? His panic is revealed by the display of his nostrils.
21 He jubilantly paws the plain and rushes in his might against the weapons.	21 He digs at the earth with his hoof; he jumps around boldly; he advances to meet armed men.
22 He laughs at fear and cannot be deterred; he turns not back from the sword.	22 He despises fear; he does not turn away from the sword.
23 Around him rattles the quiver, flashes the spear and the javelin.	23 Above him, the quiver rattles, the spear and the shield shake.
24 Frenzied and trembling he devours the ground; he holds not back at the sound of the trumpet,	24 Seething and raging, he drinks up the earth; neither does he pause when the blast of the trumpet sounds.
25 but at each blast he cries, "Aha!" Even from afar he scents the battle, the roar of the chiefs and the shouting.	25 When he hears the bugle, he says, “Ha!” He smells the battle from a distance, the exhortation of the officers, and the battle cry of the soldiers.
26 Is it by your discernment that the hawk soars, that he spreads his wings toward the south?	26 Does the hawk grow feathers by means of your wisdom, spreading her wings towards the south?
27 Does the eagle fly up at your command to build his nest aloft?	27 Will the eagle lift herself up at your command and make her nest in steep places?
28 On the cliff he dwells and spends the night, on the spur of the cliff or the fortress.	28 She dwells among the rocks, and she lingers among broken boulders and inaccessible cliffs.
29 From thence he watches for his prey; his eyes behold it afar off.	29 From there, she looks for food, and her eyes catch sight of it from far away.
30 His young ones greedily drink blood; where the slain are, there is he.	30 Her young will drink blood, and wherever the carcass will be, she is there immediately.
	31 And the Lord continued, and he said to Job:
	32 Will he who contends with God be so easily silenced? Certainly, he who argues with God must also respond to him.
	33 Then Job answered the Lord, saying:
	34 What could I possibly answer, since I have been speaking thoughtlessly? I will place my hand over my mouth.
	35 One thing I have spoken, which I wish I had not said; and another, to which I will add no more.