Job 39-40

Easy-to-Read Version

39 “Do you know when the mountain goats are born?
    Do you watch when the mother deer gives birth?
² Do you know how many months they must carry their babies?
    Do you know when it is the right time for them to be born?
³ These animals lie down, they feel their birth pains,
    and their babies are born.
⁴ Their babies grow strong out in the wild.
    Then they leave their mothers and never come back.

⁵ “Who let the wild donkeys go free?
    Who untied their ropes and let them loose?
⁶ I let the wild donkey have the desert for a home.
    I gave the salt lands to them for a place to live.
⁷ They are happy to be away from the noise of the city.
    They never have to listen to their drivers shouting at them.
⁸ They live in the mountains.
    That is their pasture.
    That is where they look for food to eat.

⁹ “Will a wild bull agree to serve you?
    Will he stay in your barn at night?
¹⁰ Will he let you put ropes on him
    to plow your fields?
¹¹ A wild bull is very strong,
    but can you trust him to do your work?
¹² Can you trust him to gather your grain
    and bring it to your threshing place?

¹³ “An ostrich gets excited and flaps its wings, but it cannot fly.
    Its wings and feathers are not like the wings of a stork.
¹⁴ An ostrich lays her eggs on the ground
    and lets the sand keep them warm.
¹⁵ The ostrich forgets that someone might step on her eggs
    or that a wild animal might break them.
¹⁶ An ostrich leaves her little babies.
    She treats them as if they were not her own.
    If her babies die, she does not care that all her work was for nothing.
¹⁷ That’s because I did not give wisdom to the ostrich.
    She is foolish, and I made her that way.
¹⁸ But when the ostrich gets up to run, she laughs at the horse and its rider,
    because she can run faster than any horse.

¹⁹ “Did you give the horse its strength?
    Did you put the mane^[a] on its neck?
²⁰ Did you make it able to jump like a locust
    or snort^[b] so loudly that it scares people?
²¹ A horse is happy to be so strong.
    It scratches the ground with its foot and runs into battle.
²² It laughs at fear; nothing makes it afraid!
    It does not run away from battle.
²³ The soldier’s quiver shakes on the horse’s side.
    The spear and weapons its rider carries shine in the sun.
²⁴ The horse gets very excited and races over the ground.^[c]
    When it hears the trumpet blow, it cannot stand still.
²⁵ When the trumpet sounds, it snorts, ‘Hurray!’
    It can smell the battle from far away
    and hear the shouts of commanders with all the other sounds of battle.

²⁶ “Did you teach the hawk how to spread its wings and fly south^[d]?
²⁷ Are you the one who told the eagle^[e] to fly high into the sky?
    Did you tell it to build its nest high in the mountains?
²⁸ It lives high on a peak at the top of a cliff.
    That is its fortress.
²⁹ From there it looks far into the distance,
    searching for its food.
³⁰ The eagles gather around dead bodies,
    and their young eat the blood.”

² “You wanted to argue with God All-Powerful.
    You wanted to correct me and prove that I was wrong.
    So give me your answer!”

⁴ “I am not worthy to speak!
    What can I say to you?
I cannot answer you!
    I will put my hand over my mouth.
⁵ I spoke once, but I will not speak again.
    I spoke twice, but I will not say anything more.”

⁷ “Brace yourself^[f]
    and get ready to answer the questions I will ask you.

⁸ “Are you trying to show that I am unfair?
    Are you trying to look innocent by saying that I am guilty?
⁹ Are your arms as strong as mine?
    Do you have a voice like mine that is as loud as thunder?
¹⁰ If so, you can be proud
    and wear glory and honor like clothes.
¹¹ If you are as powerful as God, then show your anger!
    Punish those who are proud and humble them.
¹² Yes, just look at the proud and make them humble.
    Crush those evil people where they stand.
¹³ Bury them all in the dirt.
    Wrap their bodies up and put them in their graves.
¹⁴ If you can do any of these things, then even I will praise you.
    And I will admit that you can save yourself by your own power.

¹⁵ “Look at the behemoth.^[g]
    I made the behemoth, and I made you.
    He eats grass like a cow.
¹⁶ But he has great strength in his body.
    The muscles in his stomach are powerful.
¹⁷ His tail stands strong like a cedar tree.
    His leg muscles are very strong.
¹⁸ His bones are as strong as bronze.
    His legs are like iron bars.
¹⁹ The behemoth is the most amazing animal I made,
    but I can defeat him.
²⁰ He eats the grass that grows on the hills
    where the wild animals play.
²¹ He lies under the lotus plants.
    He hides among the reeds of the swamp.
²² The lotus plants hide him in their shade.
    He lives under the willow trees that grow near the river.
²³ If the river floods, the behemoth will not run away.
    He is not afraid if the Jordan River splashes on his face.
²⁴ No one can blind his eyes and capture him.
    No one can catch him in a trap.