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39‘Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
   Do you observe the calving of the deer?
² Can you number the months that they fulfil,
   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?
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 which I have given the steppe for its home,
   the salt land for its dwelling-place?
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?
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 labour to it?
¹² Do you have faith in it that it will return,
   and bring your grain to your threshing-floor?^*

¹³ ‘The ostrich’s wings flap wildly,
   though its pinions lack plumage.^*
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 labour should be in vain, yet it has no fear;
¹⁷ because God has made it forget wisdom,
   and given it no share in understanding.
¹⁸ When it spreads its plumes aloft,^*
   it laughs at the horse and its rider.

¹⁹ ‘Do you give the horse its might?
   Do you clothe its neck with mane?
²⁰ Do you make it leap like the locust?
   Its majestic snorting is terrible.
²¹ It paws^* violently, exults mightily;
   it goes out to meet the weapons.
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.
²⁵ When the trumpet sounds, it says “Aha!”
   From a distance it smells the battle,
   the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

²⁶ ‘Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars,
   and spreads its wings towards the south?
²⁷ Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
   and makes its nest on high?
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.
³⁰ Its young ones suck up blood;
   and where the slain are, there it is.’

40And the Lord said to Job:
² ‘Shall a fault-finder contend with the Almighty?^*
   Anyone who argues with God must respond.’

Job’s Response to God

³ Then Job answered the Lord:
⁴ ‘See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
   I lay my hand on my mouth.

The Marvels of Nature

¹³ By his command he sends the driving snow
   and speeds the lightnings of his judgement.
¹⁴ Therefore the storehouses are opened,
   and the clouds fly out like birds.
¹⁵ In his majesty he gives the clouds their strength,
   and the hailstones are broken in pieces.
^17a The voice of his thunder rebukes the earth;
¹⁶   when he appears, the mountains shake.
At his will the south wind blows;
^17b   so do the storm from the north and the whirlwind.
He scatters the snow like birds flying down,
   and its descent is like locusts alighting.
¹⁸ The eye is dazzled by the beauty of its whiteness,
   and the mind is amazed as it falls.
¹⁹ He pours frost over the earth like salt,
   and icicles form like pointed thorns.
²⁰ The cold north wind blows,
   and ice freezes on the water;
it settles on every pool of water,
   and the water puts it on like a breastplate.
²¹ He consumes the mountains and burns up the wilderness,
   and withers the tender grass like fire.
²² A mist quickly heals all things;
   the falling dew gives refreshment from the heat.

²³ By his plan he stilled the deep
   and planted islands in it.
²⁴ Those who sail the sea tell of its dangers,
   and we marvel at what we hear.
²⁵ In it are strange and marvellous creatures,
   all kinds of living things, and huge sea-monsters.
²⁶ Because of him each of his messengers succeeds,
   and by his word all things hold together.

²⁷ We could say more but could never say enough;
   let the final word be: ‘He is the all.’
²⁸ Where can we find the strength to praise him?
   For he is greater than all his works.
²⁹ Awesome is the Lord and very great,
   and marvellous is his power.
³⁰ Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can,
   for he surpasses even that.
When you exalt him, summon all your strength,
   and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough.
³¹ Who has seen him and can describe him?
   Or who can extol him as he is?
³² Many things greater than these lie hidden,
   for I^* have seen but few of his works.
³³ For the Lord has made all things,
   and to the godly he has given wisdom.