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 | Have you numbered the months since their conception, and do you know at what time they gave birth? |
3 | They bend themselves for their offspring, and they give birth, and they emit roars. |
4 | Their young are weaned and go out to feed; they depart and do not return to them. |
5 | Who has set the wild ass free, and who has released his bonds? |
6 | I have given a house in solitude to him, and his tabernacle is in the salted land. |
7 | He despises the crowded city; he does not pay attention to the bellow of the tax collector. |
8 | He looks around the mountains of his pasture, and he searches everywhere for green plants. |
9 | Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve you, and will he remain in your stall? |
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 put your faith in his great strength, and delegate your labors to him? |
12 | Will you trust him to return to you the seed, and to gather it on your drying floor? |
13 | The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk. |
14 | When she leaves eggs behind in the earth, will you perhaps warm them in the dust? |
15 | She forgets that feet may trample them, or that the beasts of the field may shatter them. |
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 deprived her of wisdom; neither has he given her understanding. |
18 | Yet, when the time is right, she raises her wings on high; she ridicules the horse and his rider. |
19 | Will you supply strength to the horse, or envelope his throat with neighing? |
20 | Will you alarm him as the locusts do? His panic is revealed by the display of his nostrils. |
21 | He digs at the earth with his hoof; he jumps around boldly; he advances to meet armed men. |
22 | He despises fear; he does not turn away from the sword. |
23 | Above him, the quiver rattles, the spear and the shield shake. |
24 | Seething and raging, he drinks up the earth; neither does he pause when the blast of the trumpet sounds. |
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 | Does the hawk grow feathers by means of your wisdom, spreading her wings towards the south? |
27 | Will the eagle lift herself up at your command and make her nest in steep places? |
28 | She dwells among the rocks, and she lingers among broken boulders and inaccessible cliffs. |
29 | From there, she looks for food, and her eyes catch sight of it from far away. |
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. |