39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
    Do you observe the calving of the deer?^(A)
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill,
    and do you know the time when they give birth,
³ when they crouch to give birth to their offspring
    and are delivered of their young?^(B)
4 Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;
    they go forth and do not return to them.

⁵ “Who has let the wild ass go free?
    Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,^(C)
6 to which I have given the steppe for its home,
    the salt land for its dwelling place?^(D)
7 It scorns the tumult of the city;
    it does not hear the shouts of the driver.
⁸ It ranges the mountains as its pasture,
    and it searches after every green thing.

⁹ “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
    Will it spend the night at your crib?^(E)
10 Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes,
    or will it harrow the valleys after you?
¹¹ Will you depend on it because its strength is great,
    and will you hand over your labor to it?
¹² Do you have faith in it that it will return
    and bring your grain to your threshing floor?^[a]

¹³ “The ostrich’s wings flap wildly,
    though its pinions lack plumage.^[b]
14 For it leaves its eggs to the earth
    and lets them be warmed on the ground,
¹⁵ forgetting that a foot may crush them
    and that a wild animal may trample them.
¹⁶ It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own;
    though its labor should be in vain, yet it has no fear;^(F)
17 because God has made it forget wisdom
    and given it no share in understanding.^(G)
18 When it spreads its plumes aloft,^[c]
    it laughs at the horse and its rider.

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse its might?
    Do you clothe its neck with mane?^(H)
20 Do you make it leap like the locust?
    Its majestic snorting is terrible.^(I)
21 It paws^[d] violently, exults mightily;
    it goes out to meet the weapons.^(J)
22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
    it does not turn back from the sword.
²³ Upon it rattle the quiver,
    the flashing spear, and the javelin.
²⁴ With fierceness and rage it swallows the ground;
    it cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.^(K)
25 When the trumpet sounds, it says ‘Aha!’
    From a distance it smells the battle,
    the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.^(L)

²⁶ “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars
    and spreads its wings toward the south?
²⁷ Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
    and makes its nest on high?^(M)
28 It lives on the rock and makes its home
    in the fastness of the rocky crag.
²⁹ From there it spies the prey;
    its eyes see it from far away.^(N)
30 Its young ones suck up blood,
    and where the slain are, there it is.”^(O)

² “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?^[e]
    Anyone who argues with God must respond.”^(P)

⁴ “See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
    I lay my hand on my mouth.^(Q)
5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer,
    twice but will proceed no further.”^(R)

⁷ “Gird up your loins like a man;
    I will question you, and you declare to me.^(T)
8 Will you even put me in the wrong?
    Will you condemn me that you may be justified?^(U)
9 Have you an arm like God,
    and can you thunder with a voice like his?^(V)

¹⁰ “Deck yourself with majesty and dignity;
    clothe yourself with glory and splendor.^(W)
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
    and look on all who are proud and humble them.^(X)
12 Look on all who are proud and bring them low;
    tread down the wicked where they stand.^(Y)
13 Hide them all in the dust together;
    bind their faces in the world below.^[f]
14 Then I will also acknowledge to you
    that your own right hand can give you victory.^(Z)

¹⁵ “Look at Behemoth,
    which I made just as I made you;
    it eats grass like an ox.^(AA)
16 Its strength is in its loins
    and its power in the muscles of its belly.
¹⁷ It makes its tail stiff like a cedar;
    the sinews of its thighs are knit together.
¹⁸ Its bones are tubes of bronze,
    its limbs like bars of iron.

¹⁹ “It is the first of the great acts of God;
    only its Maker can approach it with the sword.^(AB)
20 For the mountains yield food for it
    where all the wild animals play.^(AC)
21 Under the lotus plants it lies,
    in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.
²² The lotus trees cover it for shade;
    the willows of the wadi surround it.^(AD)
23 Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened;
    it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.
²⁴ Can one take it with hooks^[g]
    or pierce its nose with a snare?^(AE)