1 | "Do you know when the mountain goats bring forth? Do you observe the calving of the hinds? |
2 | Can you number the months that they fulfil, and do you know the time when they bring forth, |
3 | when they crouch, bring forth their offspring, and are delivered of their young? |
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, |
6 | to whom I have given the steppe for his home, and the 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 the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your crib? |
10 | Can you bind him 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, and bring your grain to your threshing floor? |
13 | "The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; but are they the pinions and plumage of love? |
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 deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers; though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear; |
17 | because God has made her forget wisdom, and given her no share in understanding. |
18 | When she rouses herself to flee, she laughs at the horse and his rider. |
19 | "Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with strength? |
20 | Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrible. |
21 | He paws in the valley, and exults in his strength; he goes 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 the 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 wisdom 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 nest on high? |
28 | On the rock he dwells and makes his home in the fastness of the rocky crag. |
29 | Thence he spies out the prey; his eyes behold it afar off. |
30 | His young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is he." |
1 | And the LORD said to Job: |
2 | "Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it." |
3 | Then Job answered the LORD: |
4 | "Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer thee? I lay my hand on my mouth. |
5 | I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further." |
6 | Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: |
7 | "Gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you declare to me. |
8 | Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified? |
9 | Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? |
10 | "Deck yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor. |
11 | Pour forth the overflowings of your anger, and look on every one that is proud, and abase him. |
12 | Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked where they stand. |
13 | Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below. |
14 | Then will I also acknowledge to you, that your own right hand can give you victory. |
15 | "Behold, Be'hemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass 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 the first of the works 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 covert of the 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 with hooks, or pierce his nose with a snare? |