The Book of Job

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

- Chapter 39 -

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?

Have you numbered the months since their conception, and do you know at what time they gave birth?

They bend themselves for their offspring, and they give birth, and they emit roars.(a)

Their young are weaned and go out to feed; they depart and do not return to them.

Who has set the wild ass free, and who has released his bonds?

I have given a house in solitude to him, and his tabernacle is in the salted land.

He despises the crowded city; he does not pay attention to the bellow of the tax collector.(b)

He looks around the mountains of his pasture, and he searches everywhere for green plants.

Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve you, and will he remain in your stall?

Can you detain the rhinoceros with your harness to plough for you, and will he loosen the soil of the furrows behind you?

Will you put your faith in his great strength, and delegate your labors to him?

Will you trust him to return to you the seed, and to gather it on your drying floor?

The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk.

When she leaves eggs behind in the earth, will you perhaps warm them in the dust?

She forgets that feet may trample them, or that the beasts of the field may shatter them.

She is hardened against her young, as if they were not hers; she has labored in vain, with no fear compelling her.

For God has deprived her of wisdom; neither has he given her understanding.

Yet, when the time is right, she raises her wings on high; she ridicules the horse and his rider.

Will you supply strength to the horse, or envelope his throat with neighing?

Will you alarm him as the locusts do? His panic is revealed by the display of his nostrils.

He digs at the earth with his hoof; he jumps around boldly; he advances to meet armed men.

He despises fear; he does not turn away from the sword.

Above him, the quiver rattles, the spear and the shield shake.

Seething and raging, he drinks up the earth; neither does he pause when the blast of the trumpet sounds.

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.

Does the hawk grow feathers by means of your wisdom, spreading her wings towards the south?

Will the eagle lift herself up at your command and make her nest in steep places?

She dwells among the rocks, and she lingers among broken boulders and inaccessible cliffs.

From there, she looks for food, and her eyes catch sight of it from far away.

Her young will drink blood, and wherever the carcass will be, she is there immediately.

And the Lord continued, and he said to Job:

Will he who contends with God be so easily silenced? Certainly, he who argues with God must also respond to him.

Then Job answered the Lord, saying:

What could I possibly answer, since I have been speaking thoughtlessly? I will place my hand over my mouth.(c)

One thing I have spoken, which I wish I had not said; and another, to which I will add no more.

Footnotes

(a)39:3 The phrase ‘Incurvantur ad fœtum’ literally means ‘they bend to the prenatal,’ i.e. that they bend or bow their bodies while giving birth. The phrase ‘et pariunt, et rugitus’ is an interesting play on words. They send forth their young (in giving birth) and then they send forth their roars.(Conte)

(b)39:7 The context of this verse is the previous description of the wild animals governed by God. It can also be taken to describe holy persons who choose to live apart from the crowds and noise of secular society. The word ‘clamorem’ is translated as ‘bellow’ because that word has a dual meaning; it refers to the loud noise of wild animals, or also to a loud noise made by a human being. The phrase ‘multitudinem civitatis’ literally means ‘the multitude of the city,’ but it is better translated loosely as ‘the crowded city.’(Conte)

(c)39:34 Spoken inconsiderately:If we discuss all Job’s words (saith St. Gregory), we shall find nothing impiously spoken; as may be gathered from the words of the Lord himself, chap. 42, ver. 7, 8; but what was reprehensible in him, was the manner of expressing himself at times, speaking too much of his own affliction, and too little of God’s goodness towards him, which here he acknowledges as inconsiderate.(Challoner)