1  “Do you know when ^fthe mountain goats give birth?

Do you observe ^gthe calving of the does?

2  Can you number the months that they fulfill,

and do you know the time when they give birth,

3  when they ^hcrouch, bring forth their offspring,

and are delivered of their young?

4  Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;

they go out and ⁱdo not return to them.

5  “Who has let the wild donkey go free?

Who has ^jloosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

6  to whom I have given ^kthe arid plain for his home

and ^lthe 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 ^mthe wild ox willing to serve you?

Will he spend the night at your ⁿmanger?

10  Can you bind ^mhim 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 your grain

and gather it to your threshing floor?

13  “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,

but are they the pinions and plumage of love?¹

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 ^odeals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;

though her ^plabor be in vain, yet she has no fear,

17  because God has made her forget wisdom

and ^qgiven her no share in understanding.

18  When she rouses herself to flee,²

she laughs at the horse and his rider.

19  “Do you give the horse his might?

Do you clothe his neck with a mane?

20  Do you make him leap like the locust?

His majestic ^rsnorting is terrifying.

21  He paws³ in the valley and exults in his strength;

he ^sgoes 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 ^tthe 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 understanding 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 ^unest on high?

28  On the rock he dwells and makes his home,

on ^vthe rocky crag and stronghold.

29  From there he spies out the prey;

his eyes behold it from far away.

30  His young ones suck up blood,

and ^wwhere the slain are, there is he.”

2  “Shall a faultfinder ^ycontend with the Almighty?

He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

4  “Behold, I am ^zof small account; what shall I answer you?

^aI lay my hand on my mouth.

5  I have spoken ^bonce, and I will not answer;

^btwice, but I will proceed no further.”

7  ^d“Dress for action⁴ like a man;

^eI will question you, and you make it known to me.

8  Will you even put me in the wrong?

Will you condemn me that ^fyou may be in the right?

9  Have you ^gan arm like God,

and can you thunder with ^ha voice like his?

10  “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;

ⁱclothe yourself with glory and splendor.

11  Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

and look on everyone who is ^jproud and abase him.

12  Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low

and ^ktread down the wicked ^lwhere they stand.

13  ^mHide them all in ⁿthe dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.⁵

14  Then will I also acknowledge to you

that your own ^oright hand can save you.

15  “Behold, Behemoth,⁶

which I made as I made you;

he eats ^pgrass 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 ^qthe first of ^rthe works⁷ 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 shelter of ^sthe 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 by his eyes,⁸

or pierce his nose with a snare?