39 “Do you know when fthe mountain goats give birth?

Do you observe gthe calving of the does?

2  Can you number the months that they fulfill,

and do you know the time when they give birth,

3  when they hcrouch, bring forth their offspring,

and are delivered of their young?

4  Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;

they go out and ido not return to them.

5  “Who has let the wild donkey go free?

Who has jloosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

6  to whom I have given kthe arid plain for his home

and lthe salt land for his dwelling place?

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 mthe wild ox willing to serve you?

Will he spend the night at your nmanger?

10  Can you bind mhim in the furrow with ropes,

or will he harrow the valleys after you?

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 odeals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;

though her plabor be in vain, yet she has no fear,

17  because God has made her forget wisdom

and qgiven her no share in understanding.

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 rsnorting is terrifying.

21  He paws3 in the valley and exults in his strength;

he sgoes out to meet the weapons.

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 tthe sound of the trumpet.

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 unest on high?

28  On the rock he dwells and makes his home,

on vthe rocky crag and stronghold.

29  From there he spies out the prey;

his eyes behold it from far away.

30  His young ones suck up blood,

and wwhere the slain are, there is he.”

40 And the Lord xsaid to Job:

2  “Shall a faultfinder ycontend with the Almighty?

He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Job Promises Silence

3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:

4  “Behold, I am zof small account; what shall I answer you?

aI lay my hand on my mouth.

5  I have spoken bonce, and I will not answer;

btwice, but I will proceed no further.”

The Lord Challenges Job

6 Then the Lord canswered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

7  d“Dress for action1 like a man;

eI will question you, and you make it known to me.

8  Will you even put me in the wrong?

Will you condemn me that fyou may be in the right?

9  Have you gan arm like God,

and can you thunder with ha voice like his?

10  “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;

iclothe yourself with glory and splendor.

11  Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

and look on everyone who is jproud and abase him.

12  Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low

and ktread down the wicked lwhere they stand.

13  mHide them all in nthe dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.2

14  Then will I also acknowledge to you

that your own oright hand can save you.

15  “Behold, Behemoth,3

which I made as I made you;

he eats pgrass like an ox.

16  Behold, his strength in his loins,

and his power in the muscles of his belly.

17  He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

18  His bones are tubes of bronze,

his limbs like bars of iron.

19  “He is qthe first of rthe works4 of God;

let him who made him bring near his sword!

20  For the mountains yield food for him

where all the wild beasts play.

21  Under the lotus plants he lies,

in the shelter of sthe reeds and in the marsh.

22  For his shade the lotus trees cover him;

the willows of the brook surround him.

23  Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;

he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

24  Can one take him by his eyes,5

or pierce his nose with a snare?

41 1 “Can you draw out uLeviathan2 with a fishhook

or press down his tongue with a cord?

2  Can you put va rope in his nose

or pierce his jaw with va hook?

3  Will he make many pleas to you?

Will he speak to you soft words?

4  Will he make a covenant with you

to take him for wyour servant forever?

5  Will you play with him as with a bird,

or will you put him on a leash for your girls?

6  Will traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him up among the merchants?

7  Can you fill his skin with harpoons

or his head with fishing spears?

8  Lay your hands on him;

remember the battle—you will not do it again!

9  3 Behold, the hope of a man is false;

he is laid low even at the sight of him.

10  No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.

Who then is he who can stand before me?

11  xWho has first given to me, that I should repay him?

yWhatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

12  “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,

or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.

13  Who can strip off his outer garment?

Who would come near him with a bridle?

14  Who can open the doors of his face?

Around his teeth is terror.

15  His back is made of4 rows of shields,

shut up closely as with a seal.

16  One is so near to another

that no air can come between them.

17  They are zjoined one to another;

they clasp each other and cannot be separated.

18  His sneezings flash forth light,

and his eyes are like athe eyelids of the dawn.

19  Out of his mouth go flaming torches;

sparks of fire leap forth.

20  Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,

as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

21  His breath bkindles coals,

and a flame comes forth from his mouth.

22  In his neck abides strength,

and terror dances before him.

23  The folds of his flesh cstick together,

firmly cast on him and immovable.

24  His heart is hard as a stone,

hard as the lower millstone.

25  When he raises himself up, the mighty5 are afraid;

at the crashing they are beside themselves.

26  Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,

nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

27  He counts iron as straw,

and bronze as rotten wood.

28  The arrow cannot make him flee;

for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.

29  Clubs are counted as stubble;

he laughs at the rattle of javelins.

30  His underparts are like sharp dpotsherds;

he spreads himself like ea threshing sledge on the mire.

31  He makes the deep boil like a pot;

he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

32  Behind him he leaves a shining wake;

one would think the deep to be white-haired.

33  fOn earth there is not his like,

a creature without fear.

34  He sees everything that is high;

he is king over all the gsons of pride.”