ERV -Job Chapter 39 to 40

39 “Job, do you know when the mountain goats are born? Do you watch when the mother deer has her baby? ²Do you know how many months the mountain goat and the deer must carry their babies? Do you know when it is the right time for them to be born? ³Those animals lie down they feel their birth pains and their babies are born. ⁴Those baby animals grow strong in the fields. Then they leave their mothers and never come back. ⁵“Job, who let the wild donkeys go free? Who untied their ropes and let them loose? ⁶I (God) let the wild donkey have the desert for a home. I gave the salt lands to them for a place to live. ⁷Wild donkeys laugh at the noisy towns. And no person can control them. ⁸Wild donkeys live in the mountains. That is their pasture. That is where they look for food to eat. ⁹“Job, will a wild bull agree to serve you? Will he stay in your barn at night? ¹⁰Will a wild bull let you put ropes on him so you can plow your fields? ¹¹A wild bull is very strong! But can you trust him to do your work? ¹²Can you trust him to gather your grain and bring it to your threshing* place? ¹³“An ostrich gets excited and flaps his wings. {But an ostrich can’t fly.} Its wings and feathers are not like the wings of a stork. ¹⁴An ostrich lays her eggs on the ground and they become warm in the sand. ¹⁵The ostrich forgets that someone might walk on her eggs or that some wild animal might break them. ¹⁶An Ostrich leaves her little babies. She treats them like they are not hers. If her babies die, she doesn’t care that all her work was for nothing. ¹⁷Why? Because I (God) didn’t give wisdom to the ostrich. The ostrich is foolish, and I made her that way. ¹⁸But when the ostrich gets up to run, she laughs at the horse and its rider, because she can run faster than any horse. ¹⁹“Job, did you give the horse its strength? Did you put the mane* on his neck? ²⁰Did you make the horse able to jump far like a locust? The horse snorts* loudly, and it scares people. ²¹A horse is happy that he is so strong. He scratches the ground with his foot and runs quickly into battle. ²²The horse laughs at fear. He is not afraid! He won’t run away from a battle. ²³The soldier’s quiver* shakes on the horse’s side. The spear and weapons his rider carries shine in the sun. ²⁴The horse is very excited! He runs fast over the ground.* When the horse hears the trumpet blow he can’t stand still. ²⁵When the trumpet sounds, the horse shouts, ‘hurray!’ He smells the battle from far away. He hears the commanders shouting orders and all the other sounds of the battle. ²⁶“Job, did you teach the hawk how to spread his wings and fly south.* ²⁷Are you the one who told the eagle* to fly high into the sky. Did you tell him to build his nest high in the mountains? ²⁸The eagle lives on a cliff. The cliff is the eagle’s fortress.* ²⁹An eagle watches for his food from high in his fortress. An eagle can see food that is far away. ³⁰Eagles will gather where the dead bodies are. And the babies will drink the blood.”

threshing Beating or walking on grain to remove the hulls from the grain. mane The hair on a horse’s neck. snorts The sound a horse makes. quiver A container in which arrows are kept. runs fast over the ground Literally, “swallows up the ground.” south Or “to Teman.” eagle Or “vulture.” fortress A building or city with tall, strong walls for protection.

40 The Lord answered Job and said to him: ²“Job, you argued with God All-Powerful. You judged me guilty of doing wrong. Now, will you admit that you are wrong? Will you answer me!” ³Then Job answered God and said: ⁴“I am too insignificant to speak! What can I say to you? I can’t answer you! I will put my hand over my mouth. ⁵I spoke once, but I won’t speak again. I spoke twice, but I won’t say anything more.” ⁶Then the Lord spoke to Job again from the storm. The Lord said: ⁷“{Job,} brace yourself* and get ready to answer the questions that I will ask you. ⁸“Job, do you think that I am not fair? You say that I am guilty of doing wrong so that you will appear innocent! ⁹Are your arms as strong as God’s arm? Do you have a voice like God’s voice that can sound loud like thunder? ¹⁰If you are like God, then you can be proud. If you are like God then you can wear glory and honor like clothes. ¹¹If you are like God, then you can show your anger and punish proud people. Make those proud people humble. ¹²Yes, Job! Look at those proud people and make them humble. Crush evil people where they stand. ¹³Bury all the proud people in the dirt. Wrap their bodies up and put them in their graves. ¹⁴Job, if you can do all these things, then even I will praise you. And I will admit that you are able to save yourself with your own power. ¹⁵“Job, look at the behemoth.* I (God) made the behemoth and I made you. The behemoth eats grass like a cow. ¹⁶The behemoth has much strength in his body. The muscles in his stomach are very powerful. ¹⁷The behemoth’s tail stands strong like a cedar tree. His leg muscles are very strong. ¹⁸The behemoth’s bones are strong like bronze. His legs are like iron bars. ¹⁹The behemoth is the most amazing animal that I (God) made. But I can defeat him. ²⁰The behemoth eats the grass that grows on the hills where the wild animals play. ²¹The behemoth lies under the lotus plants.* The behemoth hides in the reeds in the swamp. ²²The lotus plants hide the behemoth in their shade. He lives under the willow trees that grow near the river. ²³If the river floods, the behemoth will not run away. He is not afraid if the Jordan River splashes on his face. ²⁴No person can blind the behemoth’s eyes and catch him in a trap.

brace yourself Literally, “gird yourself like a man (soldier).” This means, “get ready for battle.” behemoth We are not sure what this animal is. It might be a hippopotamus or an elephant. lotus plants A kind of tree. Its leaves give much shade.